


A Brief History Of Virgil

by mandeebobandee



Series: Hogwarts Havoc [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Blood, Injury, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-05-20 00:35:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 44
Words: 57,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandeebobandee/pseuds/mandeebobandee
Summary: The story of Virgil Thompson, and his tumultuous years at Hogwarts





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a bio - as such the first chapter of this may read a bit..well, bio-ish. But then I wrote a second chapter and am working on a third as well as a plot so..I suppose I'm making it into a fanfic now. Go figure XD Hope you enjoy!

Virgil was born the second son to Linus and Renilda Thompson, one year after his older brother Lionel. The family was pureblood and proud, though Linus placed significantly more stock on this than Renilda. While Renilda did experience a certain amount of pride due to her heritage, Linus felt as though protecting their pureblood heritage was of utmost importance..and attempted to raise his sons in that same image.

Lionel took to it easily. Virgil went along more reluctantly. He asked questions at first, but soon learned to keep his questions to himself when both his father and older brother would chastise him for even asking such questions. The questions never stopped - He just ceased voicing them out loud, learning fast that the best way for him to succeed in his own home and lead a somewhat easy life was to just go along with everything. This method lasted for a considerable number of years, and probably would have continued longer were it not for a certain turn of events that occurred shortly before his 9th birthday.

He'd been feeling peculiar for much of the day, but he was in a room alone with his mother reading that evening when he blacked out (his father and brother were out doing who knew what). When he came to, his mother was fussing over him. He tried to ask her what happened, and she explained that he must not have gotten enough sleep the night before and had to be exhausted, and that he ought to get to bed straight away. Not wanting to upset his mother further, Virgil agreed - but suspected there was more to it than what she said. He went to bed, but did not go to sleep, instead venturing over to his door and putting his ear against it when he heard his parents' voices on the other side.

He hadn't just passed out after all. His mother described him saying things that he could honestly not remember saying, in a bizarre tone of voice. The words made little sense, almost like a puzzle, though his parents seemed to be trying to work out what the puzzle was saying. Or his mother was, at least. His father sounded annoyed, as though this whole thing was a distraction from something more important that he could be doing. And when he heard Lionel's impatient voice chime in as well, he knew what that something else was. He wanted to spend some time with his favorite son, not the reluctant one..the 'problem child', as he would soon become.

When one day they learned that Virgil's uncle, his mother's brother, wound up in grave condition at St. Mungo's from a duel, another night time conversation that Virgil overheard told him that his mother's theories had been correct. The puzzle was solved. Virgil's 'spell' had been a warning, a prophecy. And once his family realized this, even more began to change.

His mother seemed almost afraid to be around him, though she did her best to disguise this. Virgil had always been observant though, and he could hear the slight tremble in her tone when his voice grew a bit deeper from exhaustion, or when he would temporarily space out and his mother would say his name with a hint of barely disguised fear?

His mother was afraid of him. His father seemed almost eager for him to make another prophecy, apparently deciding that his youngest son might possibly hold a candle to his elder son after all, if only because of a 'gift' that Virgil had no control over.

And his brother? His reaction was perhaps the worst of all. He, too, noticed their mother's reaction. He, too, knew that Virgil and his mother had always gotten along better than Virgil got along with their father (Lionel was always the favorite there, there was no doubt about that one). Perhaps he thought his position with their father was threatened. Perhaps he just wanted to be a jerk. Perhaps he, too, was afraid of Virgil's ability and had a weird way of showing it. 

He never did it maliciously enough that his parents felt as though they needed to step in, but Virgil knew the comments weren't innocent. For instance, one day Virgil made a comment about how it was raining so hard that it sounded as if the roof might cave in.

Lionel proceeded to gasp at once. _"The roof is going to cave in? We need to look out!"_ Though his mother and father quickly reassured Lionel that this would not happen, Virgil could not help but note the way that his mother flinched, as if considering a possibility that she hadn't considered prior, her petrified gaze immediately peering toward the roof as if she had to make certain for herself. The way his father sternly told Lionel to knock it off, yet he did the exact same thing. The way that Lionel looked over at him purposefully, as if telling him silently 'see? There is something wrong with you.'

But maybe that was just his imagination.

Lionel would be going off to Hogwarts, which meant that Virgil would be at home alone with his parents for a year before he followed suit. Before he left, he bestowed Virgil with a nickname that would follow him for years to come - Anxiety. When he questioned it, his brother pointed to his mother's and father's reactions any time he said something that could be misconstrued as a prophecy. He scared people. He was dangerous. So the name fit, didn't it?

And Virgil couldn't really argue with that.

Lionel went off to Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin. His father was proud, and Virgil could not help but feel the slightest bit jealous. Though he'd enjoyed more attention from his father after his first prophecy, he hadn't made any notable ones since, and his father appeared to grow tired of the wait. Especially since Virgil didn't seem to be saying much at all. He spent a lot of time in his room reading or listening to music or doing things on his own. Things that didn't require saying much, because he felt as though he had to watch his words. He didn't want to say anything bad and then have it come true. It didn't help that he still knew little about his ability and what it entailed, and didn't want to ask anyone out of fear of how they'd respond.

As awkward as it could be at times, Virgil enjoyed this time to himself. Ultimately, it would be better than what was to come once he entered Hogwarts the following year. His parents saw he and his brother off at the station, and they boarded the train. His brother insisted on sitting with his friends, so Virgil was off to find another compartment. He eventually found an empty one and had a seat there. A couple of others joined him in his compartment, each looking to be a year or two older than him, but they made no effort to start a conversation with him and like hell Virgil was going to strike up a conversation with someone who didn't start one with him first as a first year.

He'd been nervous the entire ride, but his nervousness turned into trepidation once he realized that the sorting ceremony was coming up. Thoughts raced through his head..what if he was sorted into the wrong house? What if he didn't get sorted at all? What if he wasn't actually a wizard, or what if he was but was some sort of defective wizard who couldn't be sorted? He already scared his own mother. Hell, he scared himself. What if he scared everyone else off as well?

Then, suddenly, he was at the front of the line, and he was half tempted to turn tail and run.

He was guided up to the stool where the other students sat before him, the hat placed upon his head. He heaved a heavy sigh, then nearly jumped out of the stool when he heard a voice in his ear.

_"Easy does it. Virgil Thompson. I had your brother last year."_

"I know you did," Virgil thought back, hoping that he did not have to speak aloud in order to answer back to the hat..he hadn't seen any of the others talk out loud, but then again, he'd kinda gotten carried away with his own thoughts and stopped paying attention..should he have paid more attention?

_"Ah yes, you would know. Quite the mind on you. It doesn't seem to stop going. Ravenclaw might not be a bad fit.."_

"Not Ravenclaw," Virgil responded inwardly.

_"Not Ravenclaw? Alright then. I could see you being a loyal friend, loyal to a fault..perhaps Hufflepuff would be better?"_

"Not Hufflepuff!" Virgil thought, almost frantically.

 _"Not Hufflepuff either? Oh..do you wish to be a Slytherin like your brother? I'm not entirely sure that that is the best fit for you, but if you feel that is where you fit best..."_ the hat called out to the rest of the Great Hall, _"SLYTHERIN!"_

Virgil let out a sigh of relief as he practically threw the hat off of his head and went running toward the Slytherin table. No, that wasn't where he felt he would fit best. He had no clue where he would fit best, but he didn't think that his family (at least his father and brother) would accept anything less than Slytherin. He was already beginning to wonder if he'd made a mistake. Was it too late to run back and..yes, another student was already sitting up there on the stool. He made to take a seat on his own. This time, however, rather than blow Virgil off, Lionel waved Virgil over to where he and his friends sat.

 _"I never thought you would get Slytherin. Of course, it's not like the family would have disowned you had you been anything else."_ Lionel was grinning. Virgil couldn't tell if he was lying or being serious. Would his family have disowned him if he were anything other than Slytherin? Then he picked the right choice after all. His heart felt as though it could burst forth from his chest at any moment, yet none of the others seemed to notice?

_"Gang, this is Anxiety, my dearest younger brother."_

"I'm your _only_ younger brother." Virgil blurted out before he could stop himself, immediately tensing up. It was one thing talking back to his brother at home, but now that his brother was surrounded by friends? He had to resist the urge to jump when he felt a hand on his shoulder, which turned out to be the best move he could have made.

_"Not bad. I think your little brother'll fit right in with us, Deceit."_

Later on, Virgil caught his brother alone.

"Deceit? What kind of nickname is Deceit? Deceit is a bad thing."

Lionel smirked. _"Because Anxiety is an absolutely wonderful thing, right?"_

Lionel didn't mean it. Virgil knew it this time. Lionel was lying to him, deceiving him, just as his nickname suggested. But..he had a point. Sure, he might not be the best fit for his brother and his gang, but where else would he fit in?

He wouldn't. So he started hanging out with his brother and his brother's friends. It wasn't completely terrible. His brother actually seemed to accept him somewhat like this..so long as he went along with what the others did. Went along with, because he couldn't really bring himself to go to the extent that his brother and his friends were willing to go to.

The group earned the nickname the Dark Sides, and they became known as a group to avoid, a group to be feared around the school. Though the group name made them sound foreboding, as if they used Dark Arts and were attempting to take over the world? They were mostly just bullies. And though there were times that this rubbed Virgil the wrong way, he didn't really feel as though he was in a position to do much about it. To his credit, he never participated in any of the physical attacks against other students, but he did become known for having quite the mouth on him. 

With this came a seemingly lackadaisical attitude, as if he couldn't care less about school or his classmates or much of anything for that matter. Something that couldn't be farther from the truth, but it was easier this way. It was easier knowing that his actions caused people to look the other way than to risk showing his true thoughts and true feelings and still wind up rejected. At least this way he had control over the rejection. He even started dressing the part. He would frequently wear eye shadow and eye liner under his eyes, and styled his bangs in front of his face. He rarely wore anything other than black and Slytherin colors when he had to. People stayed away. Good. He had them where he wanted them.

It was all going perfectly. So, of course, it couldn't stay that way forever.

Third year came, and Virgil chose for his two elective subjects Divination and Care of Magical Creatures: Divination because he hoped to perhaps learn some new things about his ability, and Care of Magical Creatures because he'd done some reading up and some of the beasts and beings did sound utterly fascinating.

Divination turned out to be a disappointment. Instead of learning about Seers and the actual Sight as Virgil experienced it? They were learning things like reading tea leaves and looking through crystal balls, things that seemed pointless and childish to Virgil, who had been expecting a lot more - and he did not hold back on voicing his distaste for the class either.

Care of Magical Creatures was..different. As an elective, it combined students from all four houses, rather than simply consisting of two houses the way most of the core classes did. He expected the class to go about as well as his other classes did - Him staying mostly quiet, save for a sarcastic comment here or there. He didn't expect a Hufflepuff to keep attempting to strike up conversations with him day after day.

At first, Virgil was..somewhat polite. He didn't want to completely push the guy away, as he seemed genuinely friendly. When clipped one word answers that Virgil thought were obvious signs that he did not want to talk did not suffice? He had to get a little meaner. And he did feel bad about it. The Hufflepuff looked so dejected.

But much to Virgil's surprise, even this did not drive the Hufflepuff away - and this made Virgil uncomfortable. It didn't fit the pattern that he was used to. One day he had enough of it. 

"WHY are you still bothering me? There is nothing about me that's approachable at all, and yet you keep approaching me. It doesn't make any sense."

_"I think you're looking at this the wrong way, kiddo."_

"We're the same age.."

_"Lemme finish! I just thought you looked like you could use a friend! You didn't look happy, and I wanted to make you happy! Everyone deserves to be happy, no matter how hard they try to convince themselves otherwise!"_

"I..what?"

Of all the responses that he was expecting, he wasn't expecting anything even remotely close to..that. Patton, the Hufflepuff, had always seemed like a goofy idiot to him. Sure, he always seemed to mean well, but he also didn't know when to quit. It hadn't occurred to Virgil that Patton had, in fact, seen a lot more than Virgil gave him credit for..more than even Virgil was willing to acknowledge to himself.

Virgil and Patton did not become friends overnight. Virgil still continued to struggle with himself, his inner voice insisting that he didn't fit in anywhere other than with his brother and the other Dark Sides, even if THAT felt like a loose fit. But Patton never gave up on him, and gradually Virgil grew more and more comfortable around the Hufflepuff. He still did not spend much time around the Hufflepuff outside of class, but they began to talk more in class. Patton was even able to draw a few smiles and, even more rarely, an actual chuckle out of Virgil. He still might not have convinced Virgil that he deserved to be happy, but he did provide Virgil with small moments of happiness and they actually felt really nice. It was so different to how he felt when he was spending time with his brother and the Dark Sides. 

He had no idea that his life was about to take an even stranger turn than that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of anxiety and self-deprecation in here. I know that's pretty well expected with Virgil, but I still felt that I should warn you guys

Virgil still wasn't sure what to make of this bizarre turn in his life. Admittedly, most others wouldn't consider making a friend outside of their older brother's social circle a big deal. Another way that Virgil didn't fit in with most of his peers. No big surprises there.

They were in their fifth year now, and Patton Wright was Virgil's..friend. Best friend? Virgil wanted to let himself believe it to be the case. Patton was certainly Virgil's best friend (though that wasn't a difficult feat to accomplish when Patton was his only friend), but the thought of Patton considering someone like Virgil to be his best friend? That was laughable. Patton was an absolute sweetheart, and though Virgil was finally starting to spend more time with him outside of Care of Magical Creatures, he figured that Patton had to have a large group of friends back in Hufflepuff. Surely someone else was more worthy of the title of Patton's best friend.

Because they belonged to two separate houses, Virgil and Patton had to find a "neutral", so to speak, place to hang out and study together. On one particular day, it was an empty classroom. As the two of them were studying, a quiet place would be conducive to their success.

So would a clear mind.

He'd felt strange for most of the day, but it was a peculiar sort of strange. It was normal for Virgil's heart to race, or for his chest to tighten, or for his hands to start shaking uncontrollably. When it grew bad enough, he could honestly say that he felt like he was going to pass out. That wasn't to say that it was _pleasant_ by any means, but it was normal.

Something was off. He couldn't say what, but something was wrong, and..

_"Virgil?"_

That was Patton's voice. Oh, right. He was supposed to be studying with Patton. Patton was talking to him. Virgil looked in the direction of Patton's voice. This simple task was more challenging than it ought to be. He couldn't seem to focus on anything, but not because his thoughts were moving too fast for him to catch them. It was the opposite effect - Everything in him felt slower than it ought to be, while the rest of the world continued moving forth at its regular speed.

"Unnnnnngh.."

_"VIRGIL!"_

Virgil nearly fell out of his chair. "Jeez Patton, the hell was that for?"

Huh, that was bizarre. Virgil realized that the fog that previously encompassed his mind was all but gone. Just like that. And all it took was Patton yelling his na-

..why was Patton looking at him like that? It reminded him of..Virgil's entire being stiffened. No. No. It couldn't be..

"Patton, are you alright?"

Patton was staring at him as if he'd never looked at him properly before. _"You..shouted and your voice was all cold and hard and you.."_

Virgil rose to his feet and turned, headed for the door. His legs wobbled beneath him but he just needed to make it to the hallway.

_"Virgil..was that..I think you may have just made a prophecy! I think you may be a Seer!"_

Virgil was less than three feet away from the door when his legs collapsed beneath him and he fell into a heap on the floor.

 _"VIRGIL!"_ It hurt to hear Patton yelling like that, to know that he was hurting Patton just as he'd hurt his mother, his father, everyone he came in contact with..

_"Virgil you're shaking like a leaf. Here, lemme help you kidd-"_

"Patton stop. You don't have to pretend." Virgil couldn't handle it any more. He knew Patton was a kindhearted young man willing to help just about anyone, but Virgil could hear a slight tremor in Patton's voice. He was scared. Why wouldn't he be?"

_"Pretend?"_

"Patton, I know you're scared of me, I can hear it in your voice. You don't have to stay here. You're a good person, Pat, but you don't have to, not if it's going to hurt-"

He saw Patton kneel next to him in his peripheral vision. _"..you're right, Virgil. I am afraid."_ Virgil bit down on his lip. It was for the best this way, but it felt as though someone had not only taken a knife and shoved it into his gut but gave it a rough twist for good measure. To think that he'd actually thought he could have friends, true friends? 

_"But I'm not afraid of you, Virgil. I'm afraid for you."_ ..what?

For the first time, Virgil looked Patton square in the face. He searched every nook and cranny, but saw none of the fear he'd seen etched on his parents' faces years before, after his prophecy. He saw concern.

_"I don't want anything to happen to my dark strange son after all! You're my best friend!"_

"..what?"

Patton's smile faltered at that. It was barely perceptible, but Virgil always had been more observant than most. It came with the territory of being in such a hyper-vigilant state so much of the time. _"I mean, I consider you MY best friend, you don't have to consider me your best friend if you don't want to.."_

Virgil actually managed a chuckle at that. "Patton, stop it. You're starting to sound like me. You're the best friend I could ever ask for. I just don't think you..I mean there's gotta be someone you're closer to in Hufflepuff.."

_"Oh, I have lots of friends in Hufflepuff. But you're something special."_

Well. What did one even say in response to an admission like that? "You don't deserve to have someone like me as a best friend." 

This time Patton's smile gave way entirely. _"I will not have anyone talking about my best friend in that way."_

"Patton, why do you think everyone calls me Anxiety? It's because I scare people. I'm dark, I'm mysterious, I don't like letting people close to me, I go into weird trances and have weird visions and I'm-"

 _"Virgil_ , breathe _."_ Huh. It wasn't until Patton told him to breathe that Virgil realized just how fast he was talking and just how out of breathe he actually was. Were it not for Patton's intervention, he likely would have spiraled into a panic attack. How embarrassing. _"You have flaws. Everyone has flaws. Pobody's nerfect."_ There was a pause, as if Patton was deliberately waiting for Virgil to get the joke..and Patton wasn't disappointed, as Virgil started to smile in spite of himself. 

_"So what if you're a Seer? I think that's pretty neat."_

Virgil rolled his eyes. "It's not. It's just another way I scare the living daylights out of people. My mom can't even look at me the same anymore, not since I predicted her brother nearly getting killed in a duel. My brother's right, I'm just Anxiety, that's all I'm good for giving to other people."

 _"No."_ Patton's 'no' was so forceful that Virgil had to do a double take. He'd never seen Patton so stern, so serious in his life. _"You are Virgil. You're good for more than scaring others. And..your brother really said that? I don't know that much about Seers myself, but my friend Logan does, and he says that when they fall into a trance they completely lose all sense of what's going on around them. You can't control it any more than you can control breathing, and other people shouldn't..your brother really said that about you? I..I wanna fight him."_

"Patton, no!"

_"Like I said, no one talks about my best friend like that!"_

It worried Virgil that Patton actually looked serious, so he figured that a change of subject was in order. He was flattered that Patton apparently cared for him that much, but he knew how nasty his brother could be and he did not want Patton to fall victim to his brother's wiles. 

"..yeah, my brother can be kind of a dick sometimes." He spoke in a quiet tone, peering around almost as if he expected Lionel to jump out from behind a chair and curse him that very moment. 

_"But please, Virgil, try not to beat yourself up over something you can't control. I know it can be scary..I was scared when you made that prophecy, but only because I wasn't sure what was going on! Besides, the prophecies may be scary, but think about it this way - Something good could come out of them! You could prevent something bad from happening!"_

..Virgil had never thought of it that way. He still did not consider his Seeing ability a gift by any means, and might never reach that point. But the thought that he might actually be able to bring something positive out of this ability, that he might be able to prevent any doom or gloom that he brought into the world with his words..that actually made him breathe easier. 

_"You might even say that you're one savvy Sybil..Trelawney."_

Virgil finally gave in, letting loose a fit of laughter in a mixture of amusement and relief. He hadn't scared Patton off. Patton actually said a good many things to help him. Patton considered Virgil his best friend. Patton, the King of Puns, was even making puns based on Virgil's Seeing ability. It took the Slytherin a moment or so to regain his composure, but once he did, he realized that he was still missing one rather vital piece of the puzzle.

"Patton..if I made a prophecy, what did I say?"

Patton chewed on his lips and looked to the side, hesitantly. That wasn't a good sign. _"I believe it went something like.. 'A powerful darkness hides within Hogwarts. The only thing necessary for the triumph of darkness is that those within the light do nothing. Innocent blood will be spilt. A powerful darkness hides within Hogwarts..'_

Virgil swallowed past a sudden lump in his throat. And to think, he'd been starting to feel better..


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains an original character by my friend Koko (she goes by kokosurvives on tumblr). Her original character is a Seer, and Virgil's a Seer, so we figured we'd toss the two together. Plus this worked for what I wanted to do with this chapter. For those of you wondering where Roman and Logan are..they will likely come up within the next couple of chapters, if all goes as planned. =)

"A powerful darkness hides within Hogwarts. The only thing necessary for the triumph of darkness is that those within the light do nothing. Innocent blood will be spilt. A powerful darkness hides within Hogwarts.."

Virgil muttered under his breath. The words were vague, but the undertone was terrifying. The prophecy provided just enough information to convey the message that something terrible might be on the horizon, but conveniently limited information as to what that something was, other than a "powerful darkness." In the wizarding world, that could amount to just about anything.

Virgil spent more time in the library over the past few weeks than he had in his prior four years at Hogwarts combined. The librarian kept her beady eyes glued on him much of the time, as if she suspected that he would burn down the library the moment she turned. He couldn't say that he blamed her for being suspicious given his reputation and his looks, but it was ultimately rather ironic that the librarian was so convinced that he was up to no good that she failed to realize that he was trying to prevent something very bad from happening rather than actively setting it into motion himself.

Yet for all of his research, he was no closer to finding a definitive answer. Glancing up at a clock on the wall, Virgil closed the book that he was reading and picked up a couple of others. It wouldn't hurt to read through a couple of these books once he got back to his room. It would be his first time checking out books rather than just flipping through them in the library, but with little in the way of information about what dangers might lie ahead? He was working with an uncertain deadline, and the sooner he figured things out, the better.

..if he could figure them out.

After checking out the books in question, Virgil shoved them into his bag and walked out. He chuckled. Perhaps the librarian hadn't been entirely wrong to be suspicious of Virgil. His intentions were not bad, but he had read a couple of books concerning Dark Magic - The theory of Dark Magic, as Hogwarts did not actually carry books on Dark Magic within its library. At least, not in the regular section of the library, and Virgil felt that he was already pushing his luck what he was doing now. Nah, the restricted section would be a last resort..and unless he had a note from a professor it was doubtful he'd be able to retrieve any books from that section of the library anyway.

That was fine. Virgil wasn't looking up Dark Magic in order to use it, he was looking up Dark Magic in order to determine what sort of 'powerful darkness' might lurk within Hogwarts. For that purpose, merely researching theory would suffice.

Virgil paused in mid-step. There was one other option he hadn't considered. He ran his top teeth over his bottom lip, biting down slightly.

An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. In this case? Virgil was the outside force, and he didn't even realize it until he found himself stumbling sideways, catching himself on the wall. The aforementioned object in motion, a girl in Gryffindor robes, was not so lucky.

"Walk much?" He remarked, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. His automatic reaction upon seeing Gryffindor robes was to toss up his usual shields. He let out a snort and was about to walk away when the girl turned to face him. Oh. He knew this girl, Era. She was in his Divination class She was from..somewhere in Eastern Europe, though he could not recall the exact country. The fact that this girl was someone that he knew made him even more eager to hightail it out of there.

But wait..there was one other well known fact about Era. One that might prove helpful for Virgil's purposes. In third year, shortly after Divination class let out, the Gryffindor girl had a vision in the middle of the front staircase. Era was the only known Seer at Hogwarts - the only one with a reputation for being one, at least. And while Virgil wasn't so sure that he wanted to share his own so-called gifts with a girl he barely knew? She might be able to answer a few of his questions.

He went over the words to the prophecy in his head once more. He peered around, thankful that no one was around, but on the other hand..screw his reputation. There was something much larger on the line. 'Innocent blood will be spilt?' Not if he could do something about it.

"So, I've got a deal to propose. I won't tell anyone about your embarrassing little 'accident' here as long as you do a little favor for me. How does that sound?" Oh he knew exactly how that sounded. He sounded like an asshole. But it was exactly what most expected from him so why would he disappoint his adoring fans?

What he didn't expect was the girl's response. _"I don't exactly have the best reputation already. You're going to have to try harder."_

That..wasn't how this was supposed to go. She wasn't...he didn't have the best reputation either but he cared about his - if only because if he lost his brother, he'd lose just about everything, including a roof over his head during the summer months. He didn't dare cross his brother when his brother and father were like two peas in a pod. Lionel could get him kicked out. Virgil was convinced that he would and could.

He still needed answers about the prophecy, though. And he had someone in front of him who might be able to answer a few questions that he had. He just had to work out how he wanted to go about asking those questions.

"You're a Seer."

The girl arched a brow. _"Yes I'm rather well known for that, thanks for noticing."_

Stating the obvious wasn't going to get him anywhere. Whether intentional on her part or not, Era was making him work for this. He was simultaneously annoyed and impressed.

"Have you ever tried to decipher the prophecies that you gave?"

Virgil could tell from Era's silence, followed by a few blinks, that she hadn't expected him to ask a question like that. To her credit, she recovered quickly. _"I have. I've always seen it as coming as part of the territory of being a Seer, really. What good is a prophecy if you pay no attention to it?"_

It was just like Patton said - Having the power to give a prophecy was one thing, but what one chose to do with that power could make a difference. The prophecy he made was foreboding, but if he could determine the meaning, he might be able to do something about it. He might be able to protect others. He..the thought should have comforted him, the way it had several days before when Patton told him something similar.

But it wasn't comforting him, not as much as he thought it would. It gave him something to strive for, something that made him feel less useless - but that hint of hope could only go so far when Virgil had so little to work with and when so much seemed to be at stake. 

_"Are you alright?"_

Virgil's gaze shot back toward Era. "Course I am, why wouldn't I be alright?"

"You just looked tense, that's all."

He rolled his eyes. "Just thinking about how useless our most recent Divination class was."

Era looked skeptical, and Virgil couldn't blame her, but she couldn't call him out for it because it was the truth and they both knew it. Or, well, Virgil knew that they both knew it. They were both Seers. Era didn't know of Virgil's ability, though, or that he knew that true Sight wasn't something that could be taught like the more imprecise methods of Divination.

_"Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?"_

There was, but Virgil had to think about how he was going to phrase this without making it seem too suspicious. He also had to decide what to say within a reasonable amount of time, because taking too long to ask such a question would seem suspicious in itself. 

"What if you can't decipher it? What do you do then?"

Era shrugged. _"Keep trying? Sometimes you can't decipher a prophecy and what happens..happens. My mother, when she gave birth to my brother, went to see a Seer. What the Seer told her made no sense at the time, but as my brother grew older it all became clear. Sometimes you just need to take a step back and make note of what is happening in order to make sense of it all."_

That might have worked for Era's mother or brother or whoever that particular prophecy pertained to. He couldn't imagine any prophecy about a baby being all that worrisome. This prophecy was worrisome. This wasn't one he was content to just 'stand back and let happen'. He ground his teeth together. He'd hoped that this would provide him with more answers, but now he had more questions.

He let out a long, drawn out sight. "Thanks for nothing." He muttered, heading off into the direction of the Slytherin Common Room. Despite calling the information that Era provided him with "nothing", he couldn't help but think back to Era's words long after the fact. 'Sometimes you just need to take a step back and make note of what is happening in order to make sense of it all.' Merlin, even that felt like a puzzle. When did his life become a series of riddles to solve?

Era, in the meantime, was left with a riddle of her own. As Virgil sulked off on his own, she was left standing in the hallway staring after him. _"He's an odd one. What is he hiding..?"_ She wondered aloud as she went off on her own way


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..suddenly things get a lot more intense?
> 
> TW - Panic attacks, implied injury, self deprecation, school lockdown-ish scenario, terrible self-care habits (seriously folks Virgil is a poster-child for things NOT to do when trying to take care of yourself in this chapter) and I think that covers everything, but please let me know if I missed anything else that might need a trigger warning! 
> 
> Also, the Roman in this chapter is based off of the Roman by talia23williams on tumblr that I RPed with! (And don’t worry, though he may seem like a bit of a jerk in this chapter it’s coming from a good place and things’ll get better soon enough)

Virgil was getting no closer to deciphering the meaning of the prophecy he made. He lost count of the number of books he read and reread, and he was fairly certain that if he spent any more time in the library he’d qualify as an honorary Ravenclaw. 

One factor that his research allowed him to consider was the definition of the word dark - A definition that could vary from person to person. Dark Arts were generally considered by the majority of wizardkind as ‘dark’ (it was in the name, after all), but a practitioner of the Dark Arts might justify their use of such taboo magic. Another factor to consider, along the same vein, was one’s purpose for using Dark Magic. It would be hard to provide a reasonable explanation for someone who used the Dark Arts for the fun of it, but a mother using Dark Magic as a last resort to save her child? That was a gray area.

No, Virgil was coming to realize that the 'darkness’ part of the prophecy wasn’t the part that bothered him. Much of the school probably consider him dark, given his commonly adopted public persona as well as his fashion choices. 'Innocent blood will be spilt’, though? Whatever this darkness was, it sounded as though it/they were going to hurt, possibly even kill innocent people, and that was the part that Virgil was far more concerned about. That was the part that kept Virgil up at night, reading books under wandlight under his covers so that he did not keep his roommates awake in the fifth year Slytherin dorm. 

The longer time passed without any solid answers, the more frazzled Virgil grew. As he often did, though, he deflected his own anxiety outward. He made snide comments toward other students, disrupted class with disrespectful comments toward professors, and unloaded his own tension onto others. He felt guilty for it, but he also felt it was necessary to protect himself. Others would be less likely to ask questions, to show concern, if he kept them at such an arm’s length that they could not get close enough to see the truth. 

Even Patton. Patton was the only one Virgil could even come close to confiding in, and he still kept Patton at an arm’s length. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Patton, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to burden Patton. Patton seemed so carefree and happy the majority of the time, and Virgil didn’t want to be the one to bring that to a screeching halt if he could help it.

But Patton wasn’t an idiot. He could be naive and oblivious at times, but he was Virgil’s best friend, and it was impossible for Virgil to keep his guard up 24/7. 

_“You okay kiddo?”_

Kiddo. Despite Virgil’s repeated insistence that they were the same age, the nickname persisted. No wonder Patton had a reputation as the dad friend over in Hufflepuff. 

“Of course I..” he yawned in mid-sentence, “..am.”

Patton blinked back at him, slowly raising an eyebrow. _“You do know you’ve yawned 5 times since we started this study sesh fifteen minutes ago, right?”_

Oh. Uh.. “Yeah, I was up late working on homework last night. I’ll go to bed extra early tonight to make up for it.”

_“You sure?”_

“Positive. Don’t worry about it, Pat,” he smiled. _That’s my job_ , he added in the privacy of his own head. 

Days passed, Virgil rarely getting more than 5 hours of sleep a night. He nearly forgot that their Care Of Magical Creatures class would be taking place indoors today, on account of a mock OWL exam to prepare them for their actual OWLs at the end of the year. He pulled a slip of paper out of his bag, double-checking that he had the right room. 

_“Anxiety.”_

Virgil glanced upward toward the haughty yet familiar voice. He immediately adopted a visage of nonchalance. “Princey.”

Roman Prince was a popular Gryffindor who was frequently surrounded by a group of friends that he referred to as his 'Pride’. A Pride of Lions. How cute. Roman was with a few members of his Pride right now by the looks of it. Virgil’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked Roman up and down, trying to assess the level of danger. “What do you want?”

Roman took a few steps forward. Virgil was seized immediately by an urge to take a few steps back, but he forced himself to stand his ground. If Roman thought he could intimidate Virgil that easily? He had another thing coming to him.

_“Thought we ought to have a chat without the other Dark Sides around.”_

Virgil snorted. “So rather than confront me when I’m with my friends you confront me with yours? Four against one, that’s totally fair.”

Roman stiffened before letting out a huff. _“My friends and I don’t have a reputation for using the Dark Arts.”_

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Its still four against one. I’ll ask you again. What do you want, Princey?”

Roman’s stony gaze met Virgil’s. _“I want you to leave Patton alone.”_

“..what?”

_“I said leave Patton alone, you scoundrel. I don’t know what you’re planning with him, but I’ve noticed that you’re spending a lot of time with him lately. I refuse to let you hurt him.”_

Virgil let out a strained, almost high-pitched laugh. He was being accused of plotting to hurt his best friend and he couldn’t even counter it because who would believe him? 

“Oh don’t worry Princey If I wanted to do something to Patton I could have done it long before now.” 

Roman narrowed his eyes. _“If you hurt Patton..”_

Just what Roman would do if Virgil hurt Patton remained unknown, because one of Roman’s friends tapped him on the shoulder at that moment. _“Roman, we need to get to class.”_

Roman shot Virgil one last glare before turning and walking off, the rest of the so-called 'Pride’ in tow.

Once Virgil verified that he was indeed outside of the room where his Care of Magical Creatures class was to take place, he stepped inside. Most of the seats were already filled, but there was an empty seat next to Patton and the Hufflepuff had his hand high in the air, waving Virgil over.

Virgil took a seat. The professor set to work handing out the mock exams almost right away. He hadn’t studied. He decided to skip all of the questions he didn’t know and come back to them later. Once he finished answering the questions he did know, he went back and counted the other questions. Half. He hadn’t answered nearly half of them. He tried to reassure himself that this exam meant little, that it was merely a mock exam..but that was just it. This exam was set up similar to the actual written OWL they’d be taking earlier in the year, and if he couldn’t answer half of the questions on the mock exam, how well could he expect to do on the genuine article?

Virgil closed his eyes, taking a few deep breathes. He leaned forward, about to make a second attempt at question 15 when a shriek erupted from down the hall.

Everyone in the classroom looked up from their desks immediately, Virgil included. A quick glance at the professor’s puzzled expression told Virgil that she had no idea what was happening either. The professor rose from her seat and slowly made her way over to the door. She reached for the door handle, but retrieved her hand immediately as another shriek tore through the air.

Virgil glanced over at Patton, who was fidgeting at his desk. Of course Patton was uncomfortable. Someone was screaming, whether it be in pain or in fear, and Patton wanted to help. Patton volunteered down at the Hospital Wing. Patton considered becoming a Healer upon leaving Hogwarts. Virgil shot Patton what he hoped was a comforting smile, but then a loud voice broke through the reverie. The Headmistress’ voice. 

_“We ask that all students and professors remain where they are until further notice. We are currently in the process of investigating an incident.”_

An incident? What sort of incident? Virgil suspected that the shrieks they’d heard were in connection to said incident, which meant that it occurred near the classroom they were currently sitting within. He still had his quill in his left hand from the mock exam, which he set down immediately upon realizing that the quill was shaking within his grasp. He pulled his hands in closer to himself. This did nothing to cease the trembling of his limbs, but at least no one would notice this way. 

The classroom exploded into chatter as students offered their nervous speculation as to what the nature of the incident being investigated was. Virgil’s hands clenched into fists. Too loud, it was far too loud. He wanted to scream at everyone to shut up, but that would draw more attention to him, and that would make everything worse, because then everyone would crowd around on top of him wondering what was wrong with him and why he was acting the way that he was and what he really wanted was to be alone some place quiet and safe and where he could try to sort out his rapidly escalating thoughts. He tossed his hood up over his head, aware that this act in itself might attract attention, but he needed something to block all of the noise out!

_“Look, Professor Brown’s heading over to the door.”_

Virgil chanced a glance upward toward the door. He wasn’t sure who blurted out the comment, and he didn’t care. He only had eyes for the professor and what she was doing. The Deputy Headmaster was standing in the hallway speaking with her. He could tell the instant that something horrifying was said, because the professor’s eyes widened as her hand flew over her mouth as if to cover a shriek of her own.

Something really really bad was happening, and it wasn’t long before the news reached Virgil’s ears. 

_“Did you hear what Professor Sanders told Professor Brown? Someone was cursed! They’re taking them to St. Mungo’s right now!”_

The comment probably was not directed toward him, but it was uttered by someone close enough to him that he could overhear, and that was all that it took. 

_Darkness. Hogwarts. Cursed. St. Mungo’s. Innocent. Blood. Darkness, failure, hurtbloodfailuredarknesswrongwrongWRONG._

It felt as if something (or someone) invisible was squeezing all of the air out of him, and it was all he could do to inhale whenever he had the chance, to fill his lungs with the air that he so desperately craved. Tears freely fell down his cheeks at this point and he brushed at his face with a hand now quivering so badly that it felt like jello. Actually, his hands felt numb, and Virgil bit down on his lips.

His hands were numb oh no was he dying no someone else was dying and he didn’t stop it in time _anditwashisfaulthefailedwrongBADWRONGBADBADBAD_.

He couldn’t even make out what others were saying around him anymore. It was all an atrocious sounding buzz and it, too, was too much for Virgil to take and he just wanted it all to stop what would it take for it all to stop?

_“VIRGIL!”_

He wasn’t even sure who uttered his name, but he spotted the glass someone was dangling in his face. His throat was parched, and he reached for the glass at once, guzzling down its contents.

He immediately slipped into peaceful oblivion.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand now we have Logan in this chapter. =D The Logan is based off of the Logan that talia23williams on tumblr has rped with, by the by.

Before Virgil even opened his eyes, he could tell that it was bright. Much too bright for the 5th year Slytherin boys’ dorm. He groaned, reaching for a bed sheet, something to cover his eyes. _Five more minutes.._

His hand stilled. No bed sheet. His eyes open as he pushed himself to a seated position. Correction, attempted to push himself to a seated position, for he was overcome by a wave of dizziness that sent his head crashing back to his pillow before he could push himself fully upright.

Alright, sitting up would have to wait.

_“Oh good, you’re awake.”_

It was a male’s voice. Calm, matter of fact. It reminded him of a professor, except that none of the male professors had a voice that sounded like that. Virgil didn’t recognize the voice. He lifted his head from his pillow, slower this time, peering in the direction of the voice.

Sitting at his bedside was a young man approximately his age with black-framed glasses similar to Patton’s. Despite such superficial similarities, Virgil also spotted the differences between this young man and Patton. For one, the boy was wearing Ravenclaw robes rather than Hufflepuff robes. Not a hair was out of place on his head, and his tie was perfect to a fault, as opposed to Patton’s habit of haphazardly throwing his tie on and tying it together as quickly as possible.

“Who..”

_“Oh, right, we have yet to exchange proper greetings toward one another. I am Logan. I am told that Patton has mentioned my name in conversations with you in the past. Patton is currently retrieving refreshments from the cafeteria for us, he will return soon.”_

Logan. Yes, he recognized the name. He gave Logan a once over glance. Stiff..almost too stiff. The corners of Virgil’s mouth slowly crept upward. “Why so nervous? I don’t bite..hard.” Virgil bore his teeth, clicking them together. “See? No fangs.”

Logan shifted in his seat almost imperceptibly. _“I am not nervous. I am merely unpracticed in the act of exchanging pleasantries with those to who I am ill-acquainted.”_

“Right. You’re nervous.”

_“I am not!”_

Virgil decided that he could have much worse company in the..Virgil did a quick sweep of his surroundings. The Hospital Wing? How had he wound up in the Hospital Wing?

_“I’m back and I brought food!”_

_“Patton, that consists mostly of cookies and baked goods.”_

_“So? It’s still food!”_

_“Yes but a well-balanced meal would better aid Virgil in building up his strength..”_

_“No, he just needs some sweets to cheer him up!”_

“Guys, I’m right here you know.” Virgil didn’t particularly care what he had to eat - and it was more than a little overwhelming to think about the fact that the two of them were arguing about what was best for him to eat at the moment. He didn’t even know how he’d wound up in the Hospital Wing in the first place.

_“Oops, sorry Virgil!”_

_“My apologies, Virgil.”_

Virgil waved a hand in response to both of their apologies. “It’s no big. Uh, can you guys tell me something? Why am I here?”

Patton’s eyes widened. _“You took ill during our Care of Magical Creatures mock exam! You were gasping for air and pulling at your hair and crying and shaking and and..”_

_“It would appear that you had an exaggerated response to an external stimulus that generated a sudden feeling of acute and disabling anxiety.”_

Patton glanced over at Logan in puzzlement.

“A panic attack. He means I had a panic attack, Patton.” 

Recollection of his panic attack brought with it recollection of the events that led up to it. It also made him realize that he had one question he needed answered before all of the others.

“Why am I in the Hospital Wing? I never wound up in the Hospital Wing for any other panic attacks I’ve had.”

He heard a gasp from Patton, presumably at the news that he’d had panic attacks before this one, but Virgil would deal with that later. He had too many questions still.

_“I’m told that your Care Of Magical Creatures professor administered a Sleeping Draught once she realized your condition.”_

Virgil recalled the glass. So that was what that was.

“The screams we heard..was someone really cursed?” Virgil wanted answers, but he was not so certain that he was prepared for those answers.

 _“Yes,”_ this time it was Patton that answered, _“a third year Hufflepuff. He’ll be at St. Mungo’s for a while, but at least he’ll survive!”_

Virgil blanched. He knew the ‘survive’ comment was Patton’s attempt to look on the bright side even in troubling times, but it made Virgil feel worse. The curse the boy endured was bad enough that his survival was in question at one point? 

_“The chances for his survival were high anyway, Patton. The curse happened at Hogwarts, where many of the best witches and wizards of this age are stationed. They were more than equipped to handle the situation until the healers from St. Mungo’s could take over.”_

Though Logan might have addressed Patton verbally, his gaze was focused on Virgil. He spoke in an even tone, and Virgil had to admit that he raised a good point. Other than St. Mungo’s proper, Hogwarts was probably the best place in the United Kingdom to get cursed if one absolutely had to be.

“How did..do they know who’s responsible?”

The other two shook their heads. _“If they know who did it, they’re not telling us. Sounds like it was some sort of object that was cursed though?”_

A cursed object. Dark magic. Innocent blood was spilt. His prophecy had come true. 

Virgil laid his head back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. He’d failed at preventing the prophecy from coming true. What good was his ability if he couldn’t even use it to prevent harm from coming to others?

_“Virgil, please don’t blame yourself for this.”_

Easier said than done. Virgil was in a better position than most to prevent this, it was hard not to imagine that if he’d done a little more, if he’d looked at a few more books, if he’d dedicated just a few more moments of his day..

“I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap.” He left no room for argument in his tone. He glanced at Patton and Logan. While Patton looked worried and Logan looked skeptical, neither said anything to counter Virgil.

_“Feel better soon, kiddo.”_

_“Yes, I hope you recover soon, Virgil.”_

Virgil offered the two a halfhearted wave as they exited the wing, then let out a sigh and closed his eyes. He had a lot to process.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Virgil may have suddenly found himself in a spot of trouble..how is he going to get out of this one?

The first thing Virgil did when he got out of the Hospital Wing was head back to his dorm. He went straight for his bed and rummaged around in the top door of his dresser, retrieving a crinkled piece of paper. Next he grabbed a quill and scribbled over nearly the entire list of theories he'd compiled over the past several weeks of research.

All of that time he dedicated to research. All of it for nothing.

..well, maybe not nothing. Virgil circled the word 'cursed objects' before crumpling the paper back up and tossing it and the quill back into the drawer. He slammed the drawer closed before flopping down on his bed.

He wasn't tired, not after the rest he'd gotten during his stint in the Hospital Wing, but he still wanted to curl up and take a nap.

He felt the weight shift slightly on his bed, accompanied by something soft brushing against his hand. Virgil peered down with a small, fond smile at the Bombay cat brushing her face up against his hand.

"Hey Storm, long time no see."

He lifted his hand, scratching gently behind the feline's ears. He'd had Storm since he'd started at Hogwarts. She'd been his brother's first, but once his brother received an owl in his second year he lost interest. Virgil would much rather have a cat than an owl anyway. Sure, owls could carry one's letters, but Virgil wanted an animal for more than just it's usefulness as a letter carrier. Storm was a companion. Before Patton, Storm was the only one Virgil could talk to about anything. And even then, this was only because Storm could not talk.

She did seem to care about him in her own way though, as evidenced by the way she was licking his fingers. Or perhaps she was just hungry.

Virgil chuckled nevertheless and pushed himself back into a seated position, pulling out a couple of treats for Storm and holding them out in his hand. The black cat nibbled at the treats for a few moments before curling up next to him and letting out a big yawn. Virgil laid back and began running his hands through Storm's fur as he sifted through his thoughts.

What was he going to do now? He'd dedicated so much of his time to solving the prophecy that he wasn't sure what to do with himself now that the prophecy came true.

His hand stilled in mid-pet and he sat up at once. What if the Hufflepuff boy wasn't the only one cursed? The only particulars mentioned in his prophecy were that a darkness was at Hogwarts and that innocent blood would be spilt. There was nothing stating that it would only happen once.

And if it was going to happen again, Virgil would have another opportunity to stop it. 

It didn't cheer Virgil up, but it gave him something to focus on other than the bitter sting of failure.

He could still do something. Virgil was about to reach under his bed to fetch his bag when he heard a knock at the door.

_"Mr. Thompson, are you in there?"_

Virgil froze. Professor Foley? The Slytherin Head of House was asking for him by name? Virgil headed over to the door, trying to ignore the feeling of dread creeping up his spine. It was probably nothing. He always freaked out about things like this and then they wound up being nothing.

It didn't help, it was never that easy, but at least he was trying to soothe himself.

Virgil pulled open the door. "Professor Foley. A-and.."

The Headmistress?

_"Let's step inside, Mr. Thompson. Professor Foley and I would like to have a few words with you if you wouldn't mind."_

Like he had a choice? The words died in Virgil's throat, and he merely stepped aside to let the two adults into the otherwise empty dorm. Storm eyed them from her perch on Virgil's bed.

_"As you well know, a young man is in St. Mungo's because of his unfortunate encounter with a cursed object."_

"Duh." Duh? Did he really just respond to the Headmistress' statement with a 'duh' of all things?

The Headmistress looked just as unamused with this development as he expected. _"I would watch your mouth, Mr. Thompson. You might want to have a seat."_

"Nah."

_"..nah?"_

"I'll stay standing, thanks." Thankfully he sounded a lot more confident than he felt. His mouth was dry and he felt dizzy, but he knew that he would feel more intimidated than he already was if he sat down and had both professors looming over him. 

_"Virgil, we're..concerned about recent developments."_

Virgil arched an eyebrow. Of course they were concerned. A student was just cursed in the walls of Hogwarts so why were they wasting their time talking to him when they should be searching for the..

Oh.

"You think I had something to do with this." 

_"Did you, Mr. Thompson?"_

"NO! I..why would you.." It didn't make any sense. He was trying to stop this from happening. His mind whirled. Maybe he should have taken the invitation to sit after all.

_"We spoke with the librarian. She informed us that you developed a recent interest in books about Dark Magic."_

The librarian. He recalled the looks she shot him, how annoying they'd been at the time. He never in a million years would have imagined that something like this would come of it.

"So?" It was one two-letter word but it was hard to force out. He knew how bad this looked, but he had nothing to do with this kid being cursed. Except for the fact that he was the Seer who made the prophecy about it happening in the first place. His heart hammered in his chest.

 _"..you have to admit how suspicious this looks."_ Looked suspicious, yes, but he was innocent!

The fact that Virgil could not bring himself to make eye contact with either of them was probably not helping his case, but he was barely keeping it together as it was. One look at their expressions and he had a feeling he'd fly into another panic attack. It was one thing to blame him for being unable to do anything to prevent something like this from happening. It was another to accuse him of handing that poor kid a cursed object like Borgin and Burkes was hiring sixteen year olds and Virgil was their newest employee.

Then again, as he caught his reflection in a mirror across the room, he supposed he did look the part.

He heard Professor Foley sigh. _"That will be all for now, Virgil. But this is a very serious infraction. If we find out that you did have something to do with this?"_

 _"You will be expelled,"_ the Headmistress finished. With that, the two adults ventured off their own separate ways, leaving Virgil standing in the doorway.

"Good thing I had nothing to do with it then, isn't it?" Virgil muttered under his breath to their retreating backs.

Unfortunately, he had a feeling that this would put a major damper on his efforts to prevent something like this from happening again. Time to go back to the drawing board.


	7. Chapter 7

The next few days were sheer hell for Virgil. Though no one other than Virgil, Professor Foley, and the Headmistress were present for the meeting in his dorm? Enough could be inferred from those who witnessed the two professors approaching the 5th year dorm for theories to start.

Now the rumors were flying.

_"I must say, it isn't refreshing at all to see that you're finally taking father's teachings seriously. Father won't be pleased."_

Meaning, of course, that father would be pleased once Lionel told him. Lovely, more unwanted praise for something he neither wanted nor could control from the man who raised him.

The Hufflepuff boy who was cursed was a Muggleborn, so the suspected motive behind the attack was hatred against Muggleborns. And as Virgil was now one of the leading suspects in the public eye, they assumed that he harbored such feelings toward Muggleborns.

Virgil had taken to outright avoiding Roman whenever he could, with surprising success. A Muggleborn Hufflepuff winding up cursed the very day that Roman told Virgil to stay away from Patton, also a Muggleborn Hufflepuff? It didn't look good, and he didn't want to deal with Roman on top of everything else.

 _"I don't understand. Why do others believe that you bear responsibility for this, Virgil?"_ Logan inquired one day during a study session. Virgil and Patton's prior study sessions of 2 turned into a group of 3 as Logan began to accompany them more and more. Virgil didn't mind. He wasn't as comfortable around Logan as he was around Patton, but he didn't dislike Logan. And Logan was very intelligent. Virgil made the mistake of entering into a debate against Logan one day, a debate that Logan utterly destroyed Virgil in, and rather than gloat and wave his victory in front of Virgil's face? He'd taken the time to congratulate Virgil on what he did right and offer him pointers for future debates.

"I've done a few things that might have seemed suspicious."

_"Such as?"_

Virgil let out a snort. "Such as taking out books like this for some light reading?" He dug through his bag and pulled out a book. He'd since returned all of the books he'd checked out from the library for his research, but this book..this book was part of his father's library. He'd retrieved it during Christmas break, when he was at home for Christmas and his birthday.

Logan took the book into his hands and flipped it over, peering at the back cover for a few moments before turning it over again and studying the first couple of pages. _"This is a book on Dark Magic, Virgil. Why were you reading a book on Dark Magic?"_

Virgil couldn't tell if he was imagining the disapproving tone in Logan's voice or not. "For funsies, of course. Why else would anyone read a book on Dark Magic?"

Logan's gaze met Virgil's for a brief second before Virgil forcefully broke eye contact and stared down at the book within Logan's hand instead.

_"You should tell him, Virgil."_

Both Virgil and Logan looked to Patton, who'd been oddly quiet during this exchange up to this point.

_"Tell me what?"_

Truth be told, Virgil wasn't entirely sure what Patton was referring to either.

_"Why you've been looking up Dark Magic."_

Virgil blinked in surprise.

_"I didn't know you were..if I'd known I would have..is that why you were so tired?"_

"Patton?"

_"I should have been there for you!"_

Oh no. Virgil wasn't going to let this fly. "Patton, there is literally no way you could have known what I was doing. I was being super secret about it. The only person who knew was the librarian, and that's because I had to go through her to borrow most of the books." Something that came back to bite him later on, but he was attempting to focus on comforting Patton rather than something he'd already dwelt upon way more than was healthy over the past few weeks.

_"I still should have known, you're one of my best friends."_

"I was going out of my way to make sure you didn't know, Patton!"

_"Why? Why would you do that?"_

Why did Patton have to look like a kicked puppy when he said that? "I didn't want you to worry." Were it not for the expression on Patton's face, he would have tried to come up with some excuse, but Patton looked so dejected that Virgil couldn't think of any answer other than the truth.

_"Virge, I would rather worry with you than have you take something like that on all alone."_

Virgil turned to Patton, half-expecting him to bust out with a 'just kidding!', as unrealistic as it was. The fact that the thought even entered his mind made him feel guilty. Sure, he was used to that sort of treatment with his brother and his brother's friends and it was hard to train himself away from that, but Patton didn't deserve such ill-fitting comparisons. 

_"Ahem..would either of you two mind providing further elucidation on this matter?"_

Right. Logan had no idea what they were talking about.

_"I think we should tell him."_

Virgil looked at Patton like he had two heads. "Tell him? What if.."

_"You can trust him, Virgil. I know you only met him a few weeks ago, but I've known him for years. He's a good guy."_

Virgil didn't meet Logan's eyes. Patton was right about one thing - He couldn't bring himself to trust Logan, not just yet. It was nothing against Logan, and he certainly didn't want to be rude to Logan by outright admitting this in front of him, but he'd known Logan for such a short period of time that it was difficult as yet to overcome that initial lack of trust that he felt toward just about everyone that he met.

Patton, though. Patton was a different story. He'd been friends with Patton since their third year. Two years now. He trusted Patton. And..if Patton said that Logan was a good guy? Virgil turned his gaze back to Patton and gave a curt nod.

Patton smiled. Then..silence ensued.

After a moment or so, Logan cleared his throat. 

_"Virge?"_ Patton inquired.

"Uh..um." Eloquent. Logan surely had a much better understanding by now, right?

_"Do you want me to explain instead?"_

As he doubted that Logan had the infinite amount of free time that it would require for Virgil's tongue to untie itself on its own, Virgil nodded.

_"Virgil was looking up Dark Magic because he was trying to prevent something like this from happening. Right, Virgil?"_

Oh, right. He still hadn't outright admitted to Patton why he was looking up Dark Magic, Patton figured it out on his own. Virgil again nodded.

_"Prevent something like this from happening? How would he have determined that something like this was liable to happen in the first place?"_

Leave it to Logan to point out that a simple explanation would not suffice.

_"He, uh..Virgil, is it okay to.."_

"Yeah." One-word responses. Now they were getting somewhere!

 _"This prophecy. He was trying to prevent it from coming true."_ Patton pulled out a notebook and handed it to Logan. Patton had a written copy of the prophecy as well? He supposed it made sense, as Patton was the one to hear it - a surge of guilt coursed through him. Perhaps Patton hadn't dwelt upon the prophecy as much as he had, but he clearly gave it more thought than Virgil initially assumed if he deemed it worthy to write down. Yet Virgil kept his exploits from him..

Logan stared at the notebook for much longer than Virgil would have deemed necessary to read one short paragraph. Either there was more written on the page, or Logan was reading the prophecy multiple times in an attempt to decipher it himself.

_"Logical, such a mystery would captivate my attention as well. I now assume that the words clearly point to the events that occurred a few weeks ago, but were I not privy to that knowledge I would dedicate much of my free time to attempting to decipher them as well."_

He'd probably have figured it out long before it happened too. Logan would have been able to solve the mystery. Logan would have been able to prevent the kid from getting hurt in the first place. A pain in his hand alerted him to the fact that he was clenching his hands together so hard that one of his nails was digging into palm and he loosened slightly.

_"I do have one more question. This prophecy, intriguing as it is..I've never seen it mentioned anywhere, and I make a habit of reading the Daily Prophet every day. One would think that a prophecy like this would be known to the majority of the wizarding wor-"_

"I made it."

There was a short pause. _"..excuse me?"_

"I'm..I'm the Seer who made the prophecy."

The pause was even longer this time around. Virgil heard the unmistakable sound of paper rustling from where Logan was seated.

_"What is it like, going into a trance? Do you recall any of what you say during a prophecy, or do you rely on others around you to hear it? When did you discover that you had this gift? Are you the only one in your family with this gift? Is this your first prophecy or have you made.."_

__

__

_"Logan, stop!"_

Virgil was staring at Logan wide-eyed, mouth half-open as if he was trying to speak but could not force anything out of his mouth other than the occasional puff of air.

_"Er, my apologies Virgil. I've..always been intrigued by Seers and their gifts and I have many questions, but I suppose that now is not the right time or place for said questions."_

That it took an interjection from Patton to point out that Logan was overwhelming Virgil with his line of questions? One corner of Virgil's mouth twitched upward as he let out a small chuckle.

It was this unintentional act, ultimately, that broke the tension. Soon Patton was giggling and even Logan was joining in with a few chortles of his own.

The weight in his shoulders lessened. He was not foolish enough to trick himself into believing that it would vanish entirely, but for the first time he was allowing others in close enough to help him carry a minute part of the load. It was nice.


	8. Chapter 8

Though Virgil, Patton, and Logan didn't get much further in their quest for information, Virgil at least had someone with whom he could exchange ideas and theories. The three still met up for study sessions, but would occasionally meet up even when they weren't studying.

Virgil exited Divination, shuffling down the tower stairs with his hand on the handrail. As much as he'd come to enjoy these get-togethers, he was grateful that none were planned that particular day. He was nursing a headache and just wanted to go back to his dorm and take a nap. He decided to take a shortcut so that he didn't have to deal with as many people. A minute into his journey, he ran into the one person he most wanted to avoid.

Roman Prince.

Virgil attempted to turn back where he came from, but Roman already spotted him and was marching in his direction.

_"Hello Anxiety. If I didn't know any better I would say you were trying to avoid me!"_

"How observant."

Roman arched a brow. _"You admit it, then. You ARE trying to avoid me."_

Ugh, why did he have to deal with this right now? "Obviously. Do you mind? I have somewhere I need to be."

_"No, you've avoided me for far too long!"_

"What is it, Princey? What do you want?" Virgil snapped, leveling a glare at Roman. Roman flinched back, clearly not expecting Virgil to bite back so hard. Good.

_"You know what I want. You're still spending time with Patton. Why? Trying to gain his trust before you slip him a cursed object and send him to St. Mungo's like you did that 3rd year?"_

Virgil froze. He wanted to go back to his dorm. He felt like utter garbage. But he would not, could not ignore what Roman just said to him. Virgil started to shake, but for once his trembling was not out of fear.

It was out of rage.

"How dare you? I already told you, I would never do something like that to Patton, or to anyone for that matter! Now back off!" His shoulders were squared and there was fire in his eyes..but a wave of dizziness washed over him and he turned to leave.

Roman bore a bewildered expression on his face, but it was quickly followed by a scoff. _"Patton is my friend, and friends do not let friends get tricked by dastardly villains."_ He reached his hand out, grabbing on to Virgil's wrist. Virgil jerked out of his grasp at once and lost his balance, taking a few uneasy steps forward before slumping onto to a bench a few feet away.

Roman smirked. _"See? You were no match for.."_

Roman's words died on his tongue. Virgil wasn't even looking at him. Virgil was staring straight ahead, his breathing uneven, the occasional tremor coursing through his body. Then, all at once, it stopped.

What in Merlin's beard..?

**"STOP!"**

Roman let out a yelp, stumbling backward. He heard a squeak from behind him and twirled around at once. 

_"I'm so sorry my dear damsel, I was not watching where I was going!"_

_"Why does everyone keep running into me?"_

Roman eyed the girl, the corners of his mouth curling upward in recognition. _"Era, how are you doing this fine.."_

**"LOOK AROUND YOU!"**

This time Roman and Era jumped in tandem. Roman slipped his hand into his pocket, slowly retrieving his wand.

**"DARKNESS LINGERS CLOSER THAN YOU MIGHT EXPECT."**

..what? Roman simply stared at Virgil dumbfounded. His voice was loud, hard, cold, and distorted. He would have wondered what spell Virgil used to create the effect..but he knew that Virgil could not have used any spell for this. He'd been with Virgil for the past few minutes, he would have seen and heard it.

Era, in the meantime, removed a quill and notebook from her bag and jotted something down before gazing intently at Virgil.

**"A STORM IS COMING, BUT THERE IS STILL A CHANCE FOR SUNLIGHT TO RETURN! FRIENDSHIPS WILL BE TRIED AND TESTED. ONLY THE STRONG WILL SURVIVE THIS ENDEAVOR."**

Complete silence, other than the frantic scratching of Era's quill against notebook paper. 

_"What..was that?"_

Era closed her notebook and placed her quill back into her bag.

 _"You don't know?"_ There was a hint of barely concealed amusement in Era's tone that Roman did not like.

_"No, obviously I don't? Otherwise why would I be asking?"_

Era snickered. _"Chill. I've never seen it from the outside myself, but I'm fairly certain that he just gave a prophecy."_

_"Excuse me, what? A prophecy?"_

Era nodded, slowly approaching Virgil. " _Like I said, I'm not 100% sure what they look like from the outside. I've never been able to watch myself give one, after all. But I've heard them described, and this one hits every check mark on the list. Which also means.."_ A great shudder went through Virgil and he let out a groan. _"He should be coming out of his trance any minute now. Would you mind fetching a glass of water?"_

The first sight to greet a disoriented Virgil was Era standing over him. He jolted at once, recognizing that while he felt much better than he had the rest of the day, he had absolutely no idea how or why he was seated on a bench.

"Wha.."

_"Shh, it's alright. You just made a prophecy."_

Virgil's face blanched upon hearing that, a situation that only worsened when he spotted _Princey_ returning with a glass of water.

"What are you doing here?"

Roman looked affronted. _"Excuse me? I'm not the one who chose the middle of an important argument to go all weird and start giving a prophecy."_

"You think I chose that?"

 _"Really, you two? Don't you think there are matters a little more pressing to look into?_ " Era rolled her eyes.

_"Oh yeah."_

Virgil reluctantly took the glass of water from Roman and gave it a sniff before taking a few sips.

_"Really?"_

"Just making sure you didn't poison it."

_"I would never!"_

_"Would you two stop going at each other's throats for a moment so that we can try to figure out what's going on here?"_

Virgil wanted to, but Roman's presence was utterly distracting. It was just the way he.. _existed_.

And judging by the look on Roman's face, the feeling was entirely mutual.

Nevertheless, he did want to find out what he'd prophesied this time around, so he glanced over at the notebook that Era was impatiently holding out for him.

"Stop! Look around you! Darkness lingers closer than you might expect. A storm is coming, but there is still a chance for sunlight to return. Friendships will be tried and tested. Only the strong will survive this endeavor."

_"You know, that sounds an awful lot nicer when it's not being barked at you by a demonic voice. Still foreboding, but gives off less of an apocalypse-y feel, y'know?"_

Virgil growled, about to retort to Roman's comment when he heard two familiar voices.

_"Roman? Virgil? What's going on?"_

_"I thought you would have been in your dorm by now.."_

And then there were five.


	9. Chapter 9

Quickly deciding that the middle of a hallway was not the best place to carry out an in-depth discussion about another prophecy, the group of five made their way to the abandoned classroom that Virgil, Patton, and Logan usually studied in. Virgil, Patton, and Logan were settled in their usual seats, with Era and Roman seated at the next table over. Despite coming to this classroom with the express purpose of discussing the prophecy, there wasn't much discussion happening. In fact, the room was entirely silent with the exception of slight squeaking sound Roman's chair made whenever he started a new revolution in his chair.

_"Must you insist on doing that, Roman?"_

_"What? It's fun, Logan! Oh wait, does that word not exist in your expansive vocabulary?"_

Logan rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath. Patton, in the mean time, turned to Virgil with a grin.

_"Virgil! You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!"_

"What?!" Virgil was surprised to find that he was not the only one to respond in this way to Patton's inquiry. 

_"Oh, are you two..I thought you were.."_

Virgil shook his head at once. "No! I..she..I mean no offense but..she's not my type. At all. If you get what I'm saying."

_"Oh, you're gay too? That's good. I didn't want to offend you either,"_ Era responded.

Huh. That worked out a lot better than Virgil expected.

_"As illuminating as this discussion is, I believe we came to this room with an express purpose."_

Virgil swallowed. They did, but he didn't want to be the first to bring it up. 

"Maybe we should all introduce ourselves first? A little exercise to break the ice a bit?"

Leave it to Patton to try to take away the dramatic tension. Logan let out a sigh, adjusting his glasses on his nose. _"Very well then. Logan Dicax."_

_"Patton Wright!"_

_"Roman Prince, at your service!"_

_"Era Kastrati."_

"Virgil Thompson."

_"Your name is Virgil?"_ At first Virgil thought Roman was joking, until he got a good look at the Gryffindor and realized that he looked outright stunned.

"..seriously? You thought my parents actually gave me the name Anxiety?"

_"ORDER!"_ Logan called out, slapping his hand on the table in front of him like a gavel. Once he saw that he had everyone's full attention, he continued. _"I trust that everyone present is now aware of Virgil's abilities as a Seer, and that he has just made a prophecy?"_

There was a murmur of agreement.

_"Good. As neither Patton nor I were present to hear the contents of this prophecy, would one of you three be so kind as to fill us in?"_

Virgil curled in on himself, while Roman looked determinedly around the room, deliberately avoiding eye contact with any of the others. Era let out a sigh and pulled out her notebook once more.

_"Stop! Look around you! Darkness lingers closer than you might expect. A storm is coming, but there is still a chance for sunlight to return. Friendships will be tried and tested. Only the strong will survive this endeavor,"_ she read, setting the notebook down but leaving it open to the page in question.

Virgil glanced around at the others, only to discover that every single person in the room had the same idea. It was as if they were all waiting for someone else to break the silence first.

_"Well we've already stopped and looked around us, that must mean it's gonna rain soon?"_

Virgil let out a chuckle at Patton's observation. "Pat I don't think it's meant to be taken that literal." That said, he had a feeling that Patton already knew that.

_"A figurative storm, then. That could be just about anything!"_ Roman sighed loudly.

"I have a cat named Storm?" Virgil offered in jest.

_"That's it! Your cat is an animagus simply biding its time before it can strike and carry out its plans. Genius, pure genius!"_

_"..highly unrealistic. What are the chances that a dark wizard or witch would actually be able to remain hidden within Hogwarts disguised as a student's pet?"_

_"More likely than you might think, Logan."_ Roman retorted with a grin.

_"I doubt it's a literal storm or Virgil's cat,"_ Era offered up, Logan shooting her a grateful look for getting the group back on track. 

"Nah, it just means that something bad is coming. More curses maybe?" It would stand to reason, as much as Virgil hated to admit it. The first curse was successful, why not continue?

_"Or the curses are just the tip of the iceberg,"_ Era added warily.

That resulted in an uncomfortable silence, as if Era voiced aloud something that they were all thinking but remained hesitant to actually give voice to - and she had, hadn't she?

Virgil wasn't sure whether to be relieved that he wasn't alone in this feeling for once, or feel even worse. If the others were worried too, that meant there was an actual reason to worry and not just his overactive imagination.

_"We should designate a meeting time on a future date to revisit this topic of conversation. Much as I would like to discuss this in further detail, we clearly lack requisite information."_

Good, Logan said it so he didn't have to.

"I'm cool with whatever." It wasn't like he was in any clubs or had much of a social life. He'd been pulling away from his brother and his gang as of late. The small group currently packed into an abandoned classroom? That was about the extent of his social interaction.

He only half paid attention to the others as they ironed out a time. Logan and Roman had the hardest schedules to work with in terms of obligations, but the group eventually reached a consensus - They would meet again in one week with any information they could find, sooner if something necessitated it.

The five parted ways, with Logan, Era, and Roman headed upstairs for the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Common Rooms, leaving Virgil and Patton to head downstairs on their own. 

_"Are you okay Virgil?"_ the Hufflepuff asked him as they were walking down.

Virgil snorted. "I'd say yes but you'd call me out on that."

_"Just remember that we're all here for you, Virge. Logan and I, and even Era and Roman."_

"Roman wanted to hex me for even being near you. He thought I was going to curse you," Virgil mumbled. 

_"Did he? I'll have to talk to him. He's been extra protective of me since we started dating, and then with that 3rd year boy getting cursed.."_

Virgil nearly choked. "Dating? You're dating Princey? Why didn't you.."

_"It didn't come up before now?"_

His best friend was dating..that. He wasn't about to tell Patton who and who not to date but..ugh. This was going to take some time to adjust to.

_"Look, I know the two of you don't see eye to eye, but he's really a nice guy. You should give him another chance."_

"Have you seen the way he acts around me?"

_"Yes, and I plan on having the same conversation with him."_

That was fair, Virgil supposed. Though he didn't think he'd get along with Prince..er, Roman, any time soon. Of all the male students at Hogwarts, why did Patton have to date Roman?

_"Well, here's where we head our separate ways. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!"_

Virgil stiffened immediately. "..Patton?"

_"What?"_

"Can you..nevermind." Virgil shook his head, scratching at his arm. He knew that Patton meant no harm, but now he'd be worried about bed bugs the entire night. He let out a sigh and started walking toward the Slytherin Common Room when a glint of something gold on the floor where Patton had been previously standing caught his eye. Virgil reached down to pick it up at once, surveying it. A necklace? A fancy one at that. A present from Princey? It seemed like his style. 

"Hey Pat, you dropped.." Pat was nowhere to be found, having already slipped into the Hufflepuff dorm. Virgil shook his head and stuffed the necklace in his pocket. He'd have to give it back to Patton later on. In the meantime, he had more research to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the ships for this fic will most likely be Royality and Analogical. The Royality was established in this chapter, of course, and I plan on doing Analogical if it fits into the story - though I also don't plan on going out of my way to focus on romance either. Whatever happens happens as far as that is concerned.
> 
> In other notes, I do want to warn that there will be very dark imagery in the next chapter, hence why I changed some of the tags around. I will be posting a more detailed trigger warning at the beginning of the next chapter when I publish it, but I thought I'd give some advanced warning as well.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I mentioned at the end of last chapter, I need to post some trigger warnings here. There will be mentions of intrusive thoughts, as well a graphic depiction of suicide. Please do not read if you feel that this will trigger you. Though I love that people read and enjoy my writing, I don't want anyone triggered because of it. <3

Virgil ventured out from the Slytherin Common Room. He'd attempted to return Patton's necklace to him in Care of Magical Creatures the day before, only for Patton to ask him where he'd gotten the fancy necklace. That meant that someone lost their necklace, and thus Virgil made a quick stop at the school lost and found before setting off for class.

It was Tuesday, which meant that he had Divination for his first class of the day. He did not dread the class as much now, as Era was in the class and he was on better terms with Era after she witnessed him giving a prophecy. Divination the class felt remarkably pointless, though, when they studied _nothing_ concerning prophecies. Tea leaves weren't going to help him figure out what sort of storm was coming and who might be in danger or what, exactly, was meant by 'only the strong will survive'.

Virgil was walking out of class when he gazed out a window at the top of the staircase. He usually gave the window a wide berth, as he was afraid of heights and never wanted to be close enough to said window to accidentally fall through it.

Accidentally..or on _purpose_. Virgil immediately flung himself toward the window, the sound of glass shattering reverberating throughout the tower as Virgil crashed through it, shards of glass cutting into his bare skin. He soared forward a few feet before plummeting down, down, down to the ground. He struck with a sickening crunch, his arm bent at an odd angle, a pinkish-white protrusion forcing itself through his skin. Unseeing eyes peered outward and off to the side as if looking for something in the distance, a content smile on his face..

All at once, Virgil found himself back in the middle of the stairway leading down from Divination. He backed away from the window with a gasp, bumping into a classmate walking behind him.

_"Hey, watch where you're going!"_

Virgil couldn't breathe, _he couldn't breathe_ , he needed to get out of here, he needed..

 _"Virgil? Virgil!"_ Virgil was aware of someone grabbing him gently by the arm and steering him back toward the Divination classroom, helping him into a seat before taking a seat themselves.

It took a few moments before Virgil could calm himself to the point where he could acknowledge the person sitting with him. He was grateful to Logan for the techniques that the Ravenclaw taught him, particularly breathing exercises. Logan also offered to teach him another method for calming himself..perhaps Virgil would take him up on that offer the next time that he saw him.

He glanced over at..Era? Yeah, that made sense. She was in his Divination class, she must have been one of the last out of the classroom as well. It made more sense than any of the others, who were in other areas of the building at this time of day.

..still. He didn't mind Era, but he would have preferred the company of someone he was closer to at a time like this. Patton or even Logan. Just because they knew him better.

He figured that he owed Era an explanation, now that he was capable of providing one. "I, er, thought about throwing myself out of that window."

Virgil knew the instant that his words left his mouth that this was the wrong thing to say, because the look on Era's face was akin to having spotted a boggart over Virgil's shoulder.

"No no no no no, not like that. I mean I saw the image in my mind."

Era still looked positively alarmed. He couldn't say he blamed her. _"You..are you sure you don't need to go to the Hospital Wing?"_

"I'm not suicidal! It's just something that popped into my head out of nowhere, it's not something that I actually want to do." Virgil's left leg bounced up and down in a frenzied motion, yet he found the act soothing. It was as if some of the excess tension within his body was exiting through his leg. Not all, but some - and given how much tension he had in his being at that point in time? Anything to alleviate even some of that was welcome.

Era still looked skeptical, but at least she didn't keep pressing him to go to the Hospital Wing. He was grateful for that. _"I'm going to tell the others."_ It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She planned on telling the others whether he wanted her to or not.

"Go ahead." With the exception of Prin..er, Roman, he trusted the others with this information. 

Virgil expected Logan to call another meeting, but instead the Ravenclaw approached Virgil as he was walking back toward the dungeons after his last class of the day.

_"Do you mind joining me in the library for a short period of time? I'd like to speak with you."_

"Sure?" Virgil wasn't 100% certain what Logan had planned, but he did suspect that it had something to do with 'the window incident'. Virgil followed slightly behind Logan, Logan finally setting his books down at a table near the back of the library before pulling out a chair and sitting down. Virgil set his bag down and took a seat opposite Logan.

_"Era told me about what happened earlier. I'm concerned."_

"You and me both." 

_"I knew, or at least suspected, much about your condition, but I never knew that your anxiety manifested itself in this fashion."_

"Well, uh, that's the thing.."

Logan blinked. _"What?"_

"I've never had something that bad happen before. I've had things pop into my head before.."

"Intrusive thoughts?"

"..what?"

 _"Intrusive thoughts,"_ Logan repeated calmly, though kept a close gaze on Virgil. _"Involuntary and unwelcome thoughts, images, or ideas that are capable of causing a great deal of distress in the afflicted."_

"..did you swallow a dictionary?"

_"No, I just do a lot of reading. Am I correct in my assessment that this definition applies to what you experienced earlier?"_

Virgil nodded. 

_"But with similar experiences in the past, they were never quite so..pronounced?"_

"Yeah, never that.." he chewed on his lip as he tried to think of the best way to convey his point without worrying Logan too much "..never in that much detail?"

Logan frowned.

_"That is concerning, though not entirely unexpected? Have you been experiencing an increase in your levels of anxiety as of late?"_

"My levels of anxiety are always increased.." 

_"Yes, but more than you would consider average for yourself?"_

Virgil snorted. "Duh. OWLs are coming up, I keep making prophecies I can't make heads or tails of, someone's been cursed.."

Logan nodded. _"Yes..and I believe all of these factors may have culminated in what you experienced earlier today."_

Virgil sighed, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. "So what do I do then?"

_"While you cannot necessarily remove the stressors from your life, you can utilize mechanisms that will help you cope with the stress that you do have."_

"The breathing exercises."

_"Yes, that is one example. Another is to focus on what is around you, utilizing each of your five sense. Focus on 5 things that you hear, followed by 4 things that you see, 3 things that you feel, et cetera."_

Virgil mulled over this new method in his head. He wasn't sure how well it would work, but he wouldn't know until he was able to put it to the test, right? That was, if he remembered what to do..

Logan held out a small stack of paper he'd retrieved from his pile of books. Virgil arched an eyebrow. 

_"I wrote some notes for you. I do hope that you are able to utilize them and that they will assist you."_

Virgil took the stack into his own hands and flipped through it. His eyes widened once he saw how detailed the notes actually were.

"Jeez Logan, how much time did you put into this?" It was a lot to take in. Logan knowing the dictionary definition of intrusive thoughts was one thing. Virgil could pass that off as Logan's excessive reading habits at play. This stack of papers? They were hand-written, copied specifically for him. Logan went through all of that trouble for him.

"Logan, you didn't have to.."

_"Of course I did. I wanted to help you, Virgil."_

Virgil had no idea how to respond to that.

The sound of a girl screaming echoed from down the corridor. A boy in Gryffindor Quidditch robes, a third or fourth year if Virgil had to guess, came sprinting around the corner. 

He said something in a language that Virgil did not comprehend before pausing and repeating himself, this time in English.

_"My teammate..she has been cursed! Please help!"_


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mentions of blood in this chapter.

Virgil could hear his heart pounding in his ears, yet he still could make out what Logan was saying to the younger Gryffindor.

_"Can you lead me to where your teammate is? Virgil, please run to the hospital wing and fetch someone."_

Virgil barely had time to register what was being said before he began to run as fast as his legs could carry him. He darted and dodged between students and other obstacles in the halls, focused on just one thing - Getting to the hospital wing. Virgil skidded to a halt in front of the doors leading to the hospital wing, throwing them open at once.

"Another student's been cursed!"

All eyes were on him, but for once this did not make him shrink back in discomfort. He needed help, and he was hyper-focused on getting someone to understand this. Fortunately, the healer in charge understood this, and stepped forward a moment or so later after carrying on a hushed conversation with an assistant healer.

_"Lead the way, Mr. Thompson."_

Virgil was sorely tempted to take off like a shot the moment that he stepped out of the hospital wing, but this time he had someone following him, someone in a position to help, and he didn't want to lose her. He glanced back every 30 seconds or so to make sure that she was still back there, as if there was a guarantee that at the moment he stopped checking she would vanish.

Finally they arrived in the corridor that Virgil left Logan and the Gryffindor boy. He could hear their voices around the corner.

_"Oh thank goodness. I rendered aid to the best of my ability Madam Foster, but I fear that her injuries are more extensive than can be handled with simple first aid."_

Virgil chanced a glance at the girl lying on the grounds and instantly regretted his actions.

There was so much blood. What could have caused this? Virgil backed up against the nearest wall, immediately averting his gaze and taking a few deep breaths. A moment or so later, Logan and the Gryffindor boy finished speaking with Madam Foster and made their way over to where Virgil was standing. 

_"Let's have a seat around the corner. This will give the professors and healers space to work, but will also allow us to remain nearby in case they have further questions."_

There was a tremor in Logan's voice, but Virgil knew better than to draw attention to it. Without a word, the three ventured around a corner and took a seat on a windowsill.

A heavy silence lingered over the group. Virgil's ears rang and his legs felt like jello. Logan was playing with his tie with one almost imperceptibly shaking hand, and Virgil placed his hand on top of Logan's free hand. "You did what you could, Lo."

Now they just had to wait.

Virgil wasn't sure how much time passed before Professor Sanders came to greet the trio, the Headmistress still attending to other matters.

_"Mr. Zupan, Mr. Dicax, Mr. Thompson. You three all did a fantastic job. Take 50 points each for Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You may very well have saved that young lady's life."_

50 points for Slytherin? Virgil couldn't recall the last time he'd earned points for Slytherin period, let alone that many.

It felt nice.

_"Mr. Zupan, we have arranged for your older sister to take you back to the Gryffindor Common Room."_

_"Astrit?"_ inquired a familiar voice, laced with worry.

The boy in question glanced up, then immediately rose to his feet and ran over to the girl in question, who put her arms around him and hugge him tightly. Era looked over her younger brother's shoulder and mouthed a thank you to Virgil and Logan.

Huh. 

Virgil watched as Era and Astrit walked off, Era's arm tightly around Astrit's shoulder as the younger of the two leaned into her. They both whispered in a language that Virgil could not speak, but there was a softness to Era's voice that left no doubt that she was providing Astrit with words of comfort and a shoulder to lean on in the most literal of senses.

Virgil felt a tug in his chest at the sight. How lucky they were. He swallowed, attempting to ignore the sudden lump in his throat.

 _"You two are free to go, we will notify you if we need to discuss anything further about what happened today"_ Professor Sanders informed both Virgil and Logan before heading back around the corner, presumably to offer additional assistance.

_"Well, we should probably head back to our dorms. I imagine it's getting late all things considered. I'll see you later, Virgil. And..let me know if you require any assistance for anything, alright?"_

Virgil managed a smile. "Thanks Lo, and right back at you."

Virgil made his way back to the Slytherin Common Room, muttering the password. He bypassed the Common Room proper, ignoring that a few younger students glanced at him as he passed, then went up to the 5th year dorm and took a seat on his bed. It wasn't particularly late, and on a normal night Virgil would have stayed up later, but it had been a long day and Virgil was growing tired.

Even if he didn't plan on heading to bed right away, he needed a moment to be alone with his thoughts. Or so he thought.

At that point another teenager entered the room. _"Oh, my bad Virgil, I didn't realize you were up here."_

Virgil gave a light shrug. _"No big Elliot. It's just been a long day."_

_"I'll keep the others away for a while."_

Virgil and Elliot were not friends, but he could at least get along cordially with Elliot, even before this all happened. That Elliot was willing to make sure that none of their other dorm mates interrupted Virgil for a while..Virgil felt a rush of gratitude. 

His actual response, however, was considerably more subdued. "Thanks," he responded with a wave, Elliot nodding in affirmation as they headed back downstairs.

Virgil laid his head back on his pillow and did something that he rarely allowed himself the chance to do as of late - He fell asleep immediately.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entire basis for this chapter (and the next) is the characters in question combating their worst fears in the form of boggarts, so...make of that what you will.

When a sign-up sheet for a special, extra-curricular Defense Against the Arts class for fifth years turned up, Virgil was ready to walk past it and continue on his way. It was what he opted to do with every other sign-up sheet like it that popped up. Something stopped him this time, though - The realization that he'd predicted a darkness hiding within Hogwarts not once but twice, that two students had been cursed already..there was a threat. There was an actual need for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"I can't believe I'm doing this.." Virgil muttered, taking out his quill and hastily adding his name to the sign-up sheet. Two thirds of the way through his fifth year and he was joining his first extra-curricular activity at Hogwarts. Better late than never? 

That night, Virgil arrived at the classroom. Spotting two Ravenclaw girls chatting happily as they entered the room, Virgil hesitated. He still had time to turn back to his dorm. Did he really want to go through with this? Going to class was one thing. He had no choice there. This he had a choice in..and he could still choose to turn back around and hide in the safety of his own dorm.

_"Virgil, you signed up too?!"_

..or not. That was Patton's voice, and Patton was waving with one free hand while holding Roman's hand with the other. 

Virgil nodded. "Yeah, I..we need to be prepared in case more curses happen?" Was he trying to convince them of this reasoning or himself?

The three of them settled at a group of desks in the far center of the classroom. Virgil was both surprised and relieved when he spotted Logan coming through the door - Relieved because Patton and Roman could be a little much, and Virgil didn't much fancy being the third wheel, and surprised because he would have expected Logan to be one of the first to turn up. 

Logan was clearly aware of this as well, as the first thing he uttered when he approached the group was an apology for his tardiness. _"I apologize, I needed to put the final touches on my essay for Potions."_

He took one of the few remaining free seats in the room (thankfully there was one close to where Virgil, Patton, and Roman were already sitting). A few more minutes passed with a few more students entering the classroom - one of whom was Era, who took a seat on the other side of the room in one of only two remaining free chairs. The professor finally rose to his feet and closed the door. 

_"I'm glad to see all of you here. Today we have a special treat. We are going to be taking on boggarts! Can anyone tell me what a boggart is?"_

Virgil neither paid attention to who answered the question nor what they said. A boggart. A boggart. He cursed under his breath. He should never have done this. He focused back on the professor, who was going through a quick explanation of what to do when one saw a boggart.

_"As it will take the shape of what you fear most - or at least a variation of it - your goal is to transfigure it into something far less terrifying - and preferably humorous. The incantation is Riddikulus. Would anyone like to start first?"_

Virgil scanned the room, biting on his lip to keep himself from snorting. No volunteers. Of course not. Who would volunteer to be the first to face their fears in front of an entire class of their peers? _"Any takers? I may have to start calling out names at random.."_

_"I'll do it."_

Virgil noted that Era did not sound particularly pleased about going first, but she'd taken the fall nevertheless. Virgil could only assume that she wanted to get it over and done with - He could understand that sort of thinking, though he hoped that perhaps they would run out of time and he would not have to deal with the boggart at all.

 _"Alright, the boggart is locked in this cupboard here, let me just..Alohamora!"_ the professor waved his wand, and out from the cabinet came..

..a white slip of paper.

Virgil arched an eyebrow. A few kids laughed. Logan muttered something that sounded a lot like "how strange".

Then the slip of paper flew upward and attached itself to Era's mouth.

Era screamed - or she would have screamed if she were able to open her mouth. As it was, the rest of the class could only hear the panicked noises erupting from her throat, but they sounded strangely muffled - and of course they were, as 'paper', whatever it was, continued to obscure her mouth. She tried pulling it off with her hand, almost frantic, but then the professor motioned to the wand in Era's hand.

Era..well, she tried. Virgil could hear her mumble something. One of the Ravenclaw girls from earlier shouted at the professor to help Era, that there was no way that she would be able to use the incantation with her mouth covered, but the professor held up his hand. He did, however, keep his gaze on Era.

And Era, surprisingly, was making progress. She continued to mumble, and Virgil could swear that he noticed the paper move away from her mouth slightly each time. Finally, it moved away for just a touch longer..and Era seized her opportunity.

 _"RIDDIKULUS!"_ the spell hit the slip of paper, which immediately folded itself into a paper crane that began to fly around the room. Era and a few others chuckled. 

_"How ridiculous,"_ Patton commented in a teasing voice, resulting in Virgil snickering under his breath.

Logan, in the meantime, had taken to observing what was occurring and drawing his own conclusions based on the evidence. _"A fear of being silenced? How intriguing."_

Patton was next. As soon as Patton stepped forward, the boggart morphed into a large arachnid. A couple of students screamed. Patton visibly took a few steps back. Virgil himself tensed. Spiders weren't at the top of his list of fears, but a spider that large unsettled him. 

It took Patton a few tries as well, but Patton once again proved that he was a lot tougher than he looked. Eventually, he was able to land a successful charm against the boggart, and the boggart spider's legs began to get tangled up on themselves and the spider eventually lost its balance and fell forward. There were a few appreciative chuckles at this humorous sight.

Several more students went, each with their own unique fears. Virgil would have found it as intriguing as Logan were it not for his ever increasing nerves..though, as Virgil watched Logan slowly make his way up to the boggart, he began to wonder if perhaps Logan's incessant observations throughout the class period were all in an attempt to cover up his own discomfort.

Suddenly, the Headmistress stood at the front of the room.

 _"That is what Logan fears most? The Headmistress?"_ Roman sounded skeptical, borderline amused. Virgil held up a hand to shush him. Roman rolled his eyes but remained quiet nonetheless.

A good thing, because Virgil could hear talking at the front of the classroom. Specifically from the Headmistress..or the boggart posing as the Headmistress.

_"Logan Dicax, I am incredibly disappointed in you."_

_"Why..whatever for, Headmistress? I cannot think of any major rules that I have broken, I do all of my homework, I have studied for all of my tests.."_

The Headmistress let out a snort. _"That is not what your test scores suggest."_

_"My test scores? What could possibly be wrong with my test scores?"_

_"I don't know how you managed it, but you have answered every single question on this exam wrong. I don't believe that anyone has performed that poorly before."_

Failure.

Logan was afraid of failure.

And Logan looked so utterly dejected, so caught up in the illusion that Virgil wondered if he forgot what he was supposed to be doing..

_"Go Logan!"_

Virgil and Roman both glanced in Patton's direction at his sudden outburst. They weren't the only ones; several other students joined in as well. Virgil glanced back to the front of the classroom, where Patton's motives behind the outburst suddenly became clear - He'd drawn Logan out of whatever trance of sorts that he was in, and he had his wand pointed at the boggart imitating the Headmistress.

_"Begone with your falsehoods, boggart. Riddikulus!"_

The Headmistress began to pull at her hair and stomp and whine like a young child having a tantrum, and it was such a..well, ridiculous sight that Virgil could not help but chuckle. A chuckle that died on his lips as he realized that he was due to go up after Logan. Swallowing with difficulty, Virgil ventured to the front of the room. 

What shape would the boggart take for him? There was a lot that he feared. He tried to look more confident than he felt, an effort that fell to the wayside as soon as he saw what stood before him.


	13. Chapter 13

Himself.

Virgil was staring at himself.

Virgil's grip on his wand tightened. His mouth was dry. Why.. _himself_?

Upon closer observation, Virgil would realize that something was off about this apparent mirror image of himself. Despite being a copy of Virgil, Virgil would swear that the figure looked a bit taller than him, and Virgil soon realized why - The figure standing before him was standing with his shoulders held back, rather than hunched forward. The corners of his mouth were pulled upward into a slight smirk. He exuded confidence. He took a few steps forward, his steps smooth and even.

Virgil didn't know what to say. He wasn't even frightened - he was unnerved. Wasn't he supposed to see what he most feared? Then why was he seeing everything that he wanted to be instead? He could hear whispering behind him; apparently he wasn't the only one with questions.

The figure..this other Virgil, so to speak, fetched his wand from his pocket and brandished it at the class.

No. _No._ Something wasn't right.

There was something cold and hard in the other Virgil's expression, something that told Virgil that it..he would not hesitate in using his wand against Virgil's classmates. Yet despite the alarms screaming in Virgil's head, his feet remained rooted to his spot. He was completely frozen in his spot, watching helplessly as his doppleganger, so similar in appearance to himself (so, so similar) surveyed the classroom, a sneer slowly replacing the prior impassive expression. The doppleganger's eyes paused at last on his friends. Patton, Logan..even Roman. He leered at then, tongue darting over his lips like a cat surveying a mouse that it was about to pounce on. The doppleganger's lips parted as he spoke at last. _"Avada.."_

It was as if something molten coursed through his veins, thawing him instantly, awakening him. Virgil raised his wand and pointed directly at creature threatening his friends. "RIDDIKULUS!"

The boggart's impression of himself was immediately rendered mute. He continued to jab his wand toward the rest of the class, but no words were coming out, and the expressions that the boggart made as he attempted to cast whatever curses it attempted to curses were downright comical. A few haphazard chuckles escaped Virgil's lips before someone else stepped forward, a Hufflepuff this time, and Virgil made his way back to where the others were and took a seat.

Patton turned to him and said something, but Virgil's ears felt as though they were filled with cotton. He felt as though he was only half-present in the room, the other half still standing at the front of the room facing the boggart. He could see Logan saying something to Patton, a look of recognition dawning on Patton's features, but Virgil could not will his body to respond. It was as if he was watching what occurred around him through a frame - He could observe what was happening, but he could not interact.

He turned his attention to the front of the room, his mouth opening slightly in recognition of the fact that Roman was up there. Roman was facing the boggart. Roman was stammering something. _"But I did my best, isn't that..didn't I do good? Isn't my best good enough for you?"_

He might have made some sort of remark were he able to bring himself to focus for more than a few seconds on something external.

_Avada. Avada. AVADA. Avada avada avada avada._ The word kept playing over and over again in his mind, the sounds around him growing into an increasingly discordant cacophony.

Avada kedavra. The killing curse.

_"Class is dismissed, I hope you enjoyed this opportunity!"_

He was vaguely aware of walking, his body feeling like it weighed a million pounds. Where was he even going? Did it matter? Did anything matter?

The boggart nearly cast the killing curse on his friends. He nearly cast the killing curse on his friends.

_Monster. MONSTER. Villain. Badbadbad._

He felt something brush against his hand, then heard a voice. Was he sitting? He felt something underneath him.

_"-gil?"_

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water..

_"Can you hear me?"_

Oh, was someone talking to him? He turned his head toward the source of the noise.

_"Virgil, what are five things that you can feel?"_

Five things that he could feel..

"Ch-chair, robes, hair, floor, hand." Yes, that was definitely a hand in his.

_"Four things you can hear?"_

"R-rushing, voices, b-breathing, tapping." His shoe was tapping against the ground as his leg bounced up and down.

_"Three things you can see?"_

His vision was starting to clear to the point where he could make some sense of what he was seeing. He squinted. "A suit of armor. A wall. Glasses."

_"Two things you can smell."_

Virgil sniffed the air. "Cologne. Chocolate."

A smile.

_"One thing you taste, Virgil."_

Virgil let out a shaky chuckle. "Dry."

Logan sat before him, one hand on top of his. He turned to his left, Virgil's gaze following his, to where Roman and Patton stood.

_"Here you go, kiddo."_ Patton handed him a glass of water. _"We thought you might need this. Looks like we were right."_

Virgil accepted the glass of water from Patton and took a few sips.

It was hard to hold the glass still with his shaking hand, but he did what he could. Now that he was aware of his surroundings once more, he found it difficult to look at any of them. Even though he knew Patton and Logan were his friends (he still wasn't sure where he stood with Roman), and they'd seen him like this before, it still felt..wrong.

"Well, hope you all enjoyed the show." He remarked, trying to somehow diffuse the tension. The tension that he introduced in the first place.

_"Aww, Virge, you aren't the only one feeling uneasy after that class. Did you see that spider?"_ A visible shudder went through Patton.

_"At ease, my love. If you were to ever encounter a spider like that in real life I would slay it for you."_ Virgil smiled. For all of his flaws, Virgil did have to (begrudgingly) admit that Roman pulled off the part of Patton's Prince Charming fairly well.

Patton smiled. _"Awww, you're so sweet! But anyway, it's not like spiders that big actually exist, so that's one good thing!"_

_"Well no, not in the castle, thankfully."_ Logan added helpfully.

_"Not in the castle? What do you mean not in the castle?"_

_"I am referring, of course, to acromantulas, a race of giant spiders currently residing within the Forbidden Forest.."_

_"GIANT SPIDERS?"_

_"E EQUALS MC SCARED!"_

Virgil winced at both of their outbursts, resisting a sudden urge to throw his hands over his ears. "Guys?"

The other three looked over to Virgil.

"Can we..can we stop talking about this? Actually..I kinda wanna be alone right now, if you don't mind."

Patton made to move forward, most likely to attempt to comfort Virgil, but Logan shook his head.

Roman gave Patton's hand a small squeeze.

"Thanks..I'll see you guys later." Virgil started back toward the Slytherin Common Room, letting out a sigh and fiddling with the collar of his robes. He felt bad for leaving the others like that, but he couldn't bear to stay around any longer - not until he had some time to recharge.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of me wonders if I'm putting too much angst into this story, but argh, it just keeps coming. Also I got to play around with a metaphor in this chapter that I've been thinking about using for a while, so there's that I suppose? Trigger warning for intrusive thoughts of the violent variety.

Adjusting to Roman becoming an unofficial part of their friend group was a challenge for Virgil. The level of animosity between the Gryffindor and Slytherin lessened, but persisted nevertheless, and Virgil found himself more restless and on edge whenever Roman was around, as opposed to just Patton and/or Logan.

_"You two should talk more, I really think you could be good friends!"_

_"Patton, we have almost nothing in common other than you."_

There was something to be said for the fact that both Virgil and Roman, though. For all their differences, they both grew close to Patton, as a best friend and boyfriend to him respectively. If nothing else, they both saw what a wonderful person Patton was and wanted him in their lives.

It was hard to talk to Roman. It was less difficult when Logan and Patton were around, but generally few to no words were exchanged when it was just Virgil and Roman. And it wasn't even the fact that Roman was a Gryffindor - Era was a Gryffindor as well and Virgil had a good rapport with her.

The fact that they were both Seers probably helped in that regard, admittedly.

He was on his way to Charms when he spotted a third Gryffindor he'd been forced into an odd sort of interaction with. Era's brother, Astrit, was coming down the hall in the opposite direction. Had the boy been with friends he wouldn't have done it. Because he was alone, Virgil took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to actually say something to the boy.

_"Astrit, right?"_

Virgil did not expect Astrit's eyes to widen and for the boy to take a few steps back as Virgil stopped in front of him. The boy gave a slow, almost hesitant nod.

"Whoa, I don't bite. Hard." Virgil shot Astrit a toothy grin. Astrit gazed up at him. Virgil's could hear his pulse speed up in his ears. Merlin, this was uncomfortable. Virgil was trying, couldn't Astrit meet him halfway here?

Virgil sighed. "How's that friend of yours? She still in St. Mungo's?"

The boy nodded once more.

"That's too bad. Hope she gets out of there soon. You should be careful - You were close to what happened so whoever did this might want to get at you next.

The boy made an odd sort of grimace, almost as if he was flinching, then nodded. 

"See you around."

_"Bye."_

The boy continued down the hall, leaving Virgil staring after with a frown on his face. And people wondered why he didn't like socializing with strangers much? That was why. Here he figured it might be easier with someone a couple of years younger who he'd spoken with once before..

When Virgil brought this up to the others later on, he received mixed feedback.

 _"Perhaps he was in a rush to get to class and did not want to be rude?"_ That was Logan's reasoning. 

_"Maybe he's just shy!"_ Patton.

 _"He's scared of you."_ Roman. 

"..thanks, that really helps Princey." Virgil rolled his eyes.

_"What? It's true! You're not exactly the picture of friendly, you're dark, you're mysterious, you're quite frankly more than a little creepy.."_

_"Roman, stop! We talked about this."_ Patton folded his arms across his chest, shooting a stern look at his boyfriend. 

"What? I didn't lie!"

"He's right, he didn't lie." Logan opened his mouth to protest and Virgil held up his hand to silence him. "I know what you're gonna say Logan, but I'm actually not being self-deprecating this time. I have a reputation, and if this Astrit kid caught wind of my reputation then the way he acted makes sense."

 _"But he had no problem with you when we assisted him a couple of weeks ago.."_ Logan protested.

"Because he hardly knew me then. We were just the first two he came across when he went running for help. Logan, it's fine. It's not like the kid and I were gonna become best buds anyway. We just helped him out in a crisis and happen to be friends with his sister."

Yet for all he told Logan to drop it, Virgil was still uncomfortable with the way Astrit looked at him. He thought back to his encounter with the boggart.

There was a time when Virgil owned his reputation, even playing it up, convincing himself that he enjoyed being seen the way that he did. He didn't. He never had. He'd thought he'd had no other option. 

Patton, Logan, Era..hell, even Roman taught him differently. There were people out there who appreciated him on another level, who accepted him. He wasn't foolish enough to think that he could achieve that with everyone..but was it so much to ask to hope that things might improve, just a little?

 _"We should go down for dinner before the feast is over."_ Logan closed the book that he was reading with a satisfying clap and then rose to his feet. The others, Virgil included, were soon to follow.

They were walking down the stairs in a loosely organized group. Virgil was walking behind Patton when an image of stretching his arm outward and pushing Patton down the stairs flashed into his mind.

Virgil tensed immediately, digging his nails into the book that he was carrying and grinding his teeth together. 

_"I'll, uh, I'll probably skip dinner tonight."_

Patton whirled around, looking at him in confusion. The image flashed again in his mind. Virgil flinched backward.

_"But Virgil, it's.."_

"I'm not hungry." Virgil turned around and started back for the Slytherin Common Room. He heard footsteps behind him and tried to ignore them in the hopes that whoever was behind him would give up once they noticed that Virgil was paying no attention. After a few moments passed, Virgil reached the realization that he was not successfully shaking off his pursuer and paused at once, spinning around.

He came face to face with Logan.

"What? What is it? Can't I walk to my room in peace?"

Logan arched an eyebrow. _"You won't dissuade me with that attitude. You had another intrusive thought, didn't you?"_

Virgil stood in silence for a moment, weighing his options. If he denied it, Logan would likely see right through it, but admitting it..ugh, Logan already knew, why prolong the inevitable? Dammit, why did Logan have to be so observant?

"Yeah, I did."

Logan frowned. _"I already told you that you should come to at least one of us when these occur so that we can assist you.."_

"Assist me with what, exactly?"

_"With ridding yourself of the unwanted.."_

"It's not that easy, Logan!" Virgil was surprised by the force with which he spoke - and so, judging by his expression, was Logan.

"I-I did not mean to suggest that it was."

Virgil felt guilty. He knew that Logan was just trying to help in the only way that he knew possible, but it truly was a lot more complicated than Logan thought. He wasn't sure where he would even begin to explain.

Or was he?

Logan turned to go back to the feast, and Virgil grabbed him by the shoulder. "Remember that class a few days ago? With the boggart?"

 _"Of course. How could I forget?"_ An almost imperceptible shudder went through Logan, and Virgil knew that the Ravenclaw was thinking back to his own personal encounter with the boggart.

"It's like that."

_"What's like that?"_

Virgil drew in a long breath. He still wasn't sure if he was going about this the right way, but he couldn't turn back at this point. "Do you remember how you felt facing the boggart, Logan?"

Logan nodded. _"Of course. It is not an experience that I am particularly eager to repeat. Coming face to face with your fear as everyone stares on, all the while waiting for you to wave your wand and banish it away so that they can have their turn.."_

"Right. But Riddikulus is pretty much foolproof, right? As long as you can cast it, you can take care of the boggart?"

Again, Logan nodded. _"Yes, that is typically how it works."_

"I can't cast Riddikulus."

Logan stared at Virgil as if he had two heads. _"What do you mean? Of course you can. I witnessed you use it in class."_

Virgil shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I could use Riddikulus against that boggart. I can't use Riddikulus against the boggart that follows me around constantly, the boggart that breathes down my neck and whispers everything little thing that could go wrong in any given scenario, the boggart that makes me see my friends and I getting hurt, the boggart that descends out of nowhere and forces me under its influence even if everything was going _fine_ just a few minutes ago."

Logan's eyes widened, comprehension dawning on his features at last. _"I..I see. I suppose I never thought of it that way. I..I apologize, Virgil."_

"Nah, don't apologize. I should be the one apologizing to you. You were just trying to help, and don't get me wrong, your methods do help me out sometimes. But like I said, it's not like facing a boggart in class. I can't just wave my wand and magically fix everything. Wish I could. It would make things a lot easier." He rolled his eyes and let out a snort.

"By the way, you did help, Logan."

"Oh?"

"I think..I think I can handle going down to the feast after all."

Logan smiled, and Virgil couldn't help himself - He smiled in return. The two started for the Great Hall.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little more light-hearted..a little bit, because someone still does wind up in the hospital wing, but there's still a lot of cute and feel good stuff in here? Also, heads up in advance - Deceit features in this chapter.

There was a lot weighing on Virgil. First, he was still reeling from dealing with that boggart. Then there was the girl that was cursed a week and a half prior.

Another attack meant more rumors. Some wondered whether the school would close.

 _"Highly unlikely. As terrible as the attacks have been, no one had been killed, and to close down the school would be to let possible evidence slip through their fingers,"_ Logan explained to Virgil and Patton one day after hearing one such rumor. There were also rumors regarding the nature of the attacks. Was there a pattern? A 3rd year Hufflepuff boy and a 6th year Gryffindor girl, one Muggleborn and one half-blood. They seemed to have little in common demographically. So why were they both targeted? Or was it random?

Who was responsible? The rumors attributing responsibility to Virgil thankfully decreased with this newest attack, given that word was also spreading about his role in fetching help for the victim. That did not stop the rumors entirely, however, and there were a select few operating under the belief that Virgil was not only responsible for both incidents but intentionally set things up so that he could throw suspicion off of himself the second time around.

To which he wondered where he would even have the spare time to dedicate to an undertaking such as that. He was finding it increasingly difficult to set aside time to research the prophecy, much less anything else - and he wasn't even involved in extra-curriculars.

Virgil was on his way to dinner, a bit delayed because he'd stayed in his room to work on homework so that he could allot time to research later on. He didn't make it up to the Great Hall. Instead, Logan intercepted him in the hall just outside.

_"We need to go to the hospital wing."_

Virgil gaped at Logan. "What? Has someone else been cursed?"

Logan shook his head, but before he could offer further exposition he heard a sickeningly familiar chuckle from behind Logan.

_"Oh yes, the Mudblood looked absolutely dashing. I believe this may be the start of a new trend around Hogwarts You should see it Anxiety. Oh wait, were you already on your way?"_

Virgil glared at his brother, one hand clenching into a fist while the other slipped into the pocket of his robes. Logan laid a hand on his arm.

_"No, Virgil. He's not worth it."_

_"You shouldn't listen to your friend. He doesn't know what he's talking about. Besides, you don't know the person we attacked and you shouldn't be worried about how much pain he's in at all."_

Virgil very nearly broke out of Logan's grasp. Forget his wand, he wanted to pummel Deceit into a fine pulp.

Only the fact that a stern looking professor called his brother over at that moment kept Virgil from doing so. Virgil snarled and pulled his arm out of Logan's grasp.

"Who was it, Logan? He said I didn't know the person, which means that I do know the person, and he said it was a Muggleborn which..no." His eyes widened as he realized there was only one person who fit that description - and that Logan mentioned they needed to go to the hospital wing. Logan and Era were halfbloods, and Roman was a pureblood like him, which meant..

Virgil marched down to the hospital wing immediately. He heard Logan calling after him, but he didn't stop until he reached the hospital wing. He wanted to kill Deceit, but he wanted to make sure that his friend was alright first.

Virgil entered the hospital wing, immediately doing a sweep of the room with his gaze. 

There, against a far wall. Patton was nearly unrecognizable, his face severely swollen. Were it not for his waving upon seeing Virgil, as well as the fact that Pri-Roman was hanging onto his hand as if his life depended on it, Virgil wasn't so sure that he would have caught that it was Patton at first glance.

Virgil strode across the room at once, Logan hot on his heels.

"Patton! I..when I get my hands on him.." Virgil growled. Patton gave a lopsided smile and waved his hand. 

_"Awww it's no big deal! How are you doing today, kiddo? I'm doing swell! Get it?"_

Logan let out a choked sounding noise behind him. _"You were just..and now you're making puns..I don't.."_

 _"Uh-oh, I think you might have broken Logan."_ Roman chuckled, brushing his fingers against Patton's hand, to which Patton giggled.

"Patton, I'm sorry he did this to you, if it's because of me.." Patton shook his head rapidly - too rapidly.

Roman snorted. _"Oh, this is most certainly because of you. There is no doubt about that."_

Virgil shot a glare in Roman's direction, but did not retort. How could he when he knew it to be true? Patton was targeted because of his friendship with Virgil. "Maybe I should keep my distance for a while till this all blows over." He didn't want to lose Patton's friendship, but he also didn't want Patton to suffer because of it.

Yet something struck Virgil as strange. Why was Roman snorting, almost as if amused by this notion?

Patton shook his head quickly. _"No Virgil, please.."_

"It's the best way to ensure that he doesn't attack you again unprovoked.."

Roman made an odd noise at this. Virgil glanced over at once, surprised to see that Roman was holding back laughter?

"I don't..why are you laughing?"

Roman shook his head, afew more chortles shaking his figure before he was able to regain his composure enough to speak.

_"I wouldn't call it unprovoked, necessarily."_

"What?" Virgil's hands clenched into fists. Patton was laying in a hospital bed because of Deceit, and Roman was _standing up for Deceit over his boyfriend_?

 _"He was saying things about you Virgil, I couldn't let him get away with that!"_ Wait, what? Virgil whirled around, making eye contact with Patton after Patton spoke.

Roman grinned. _"I mean, what Deceit did to Patton was cruel and over the top, but I'm pretty sure Deceit's going to have it rough over the next couple of days after the hex Patton sent in his direction. Toenail-growing hex, right Pat?"_

"You hexed Deceit first?" Virgil blurted out, incredulous.

Patton nodded, looking oddly resolute. _"He was saying things about you, mean, horrible, untrue things like..like how you scare people and how you're a freak and..and no one talks about my friends like that!"_

Patton uttered the last sentence with so much force that Virgil actually caught himself flinching back slightly. 

He thought back, realizing that Deceit was walking strangely during their earlier encounter, almost as if he was favoring one leg over the other. Was that Patton's hex at work?

Patton did that for him. _Patton did that for him._ Before he was consciously aware of what he was doing, before he had a chance to second guess his actions the way he so often did, he threw his arms around Patton, squeezing tightly. 

Patton placed his arms around Virgil in return, patting his back a few times. _"There there. How's that? A little_ Pat _on the back to make you feel better?"_

 _"Oh for the love of.."_ Logan's hand flew to his forehead.

Virgil and Roman both burst into laughter.


	16. Chapter 16

It didn't take long for Patton to recover from the stinging hex placed on him by Deceit, much to Virgil's relief. Unfortunately, the same could be said for Deceit himself, who was walking around normally the next day and glaring at Virgil, Patton, Logan, and Roman as they walked past. Virgil was certain that the only reason Deceit didn't try anything was that Deceit was only accompanied by one of the other Dark Sides, and unfortunately possessed the intellect to realize that with two against four, the odds were not in his favor.

Too bad. Virgil wouldn't have minded seeing his brother hexed in front of him rather than merely seeing the aftereffects. 

"Tell me again how it went?"

_"Oh, it was a work of art! Patton and I were walking past the Slytherin table and we overheard Deceit talking sh.."_

Patton shot Roman a look.

_"Shtuff and he didn't think that you would hear it."_

_"Roman, is that a reference to Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani?"_

Roman made a noise and glared at Logan before continuing. _"As I was saying, he kept going, and Patton, dear sweet Patton..well, he couldn't bear to hear his 'dark strange son' talked about in that way."_

"He referred to me as his dark strange son?" Virgil couldn't help the smile that slowly crept across his face. "But I'm..I'm older than him." By less than a month, but Virgil was older nevertheless.

There was no disguising how the words effected Virgil, however. He wasn't just smiling, but grinning, as he looked over at Patton with barely disguised affection. What had he done to deserve such a wonderful best friend as Patton?

 _"YES, well,"_ Roman grunted, his tone laced with annoyance - clearly he was tired of having his story interrupted by the other three. _"I will not say that Patton did not give him a chance. He told them to stop talking about you in that fashion, and Deceit merely chuckled and asked him who was going to stop him from doing so."_

"And that's when..?"

_"Yes, that is when Patton cast his toe-nail hex. Expertly done by the way, Patton. Lovely form, and I don't just mean the way that you stood while you were casting the spell.."_

_"Roman, not in front of the kids!"_

A bewildered look came across Logan's features as he turned a faint shade of red, while Virgil burst out laughing. He figured that it probably wasn't the best time to point out that out of the four of them, Roman was actually the youngest by a few months.

Virgil was more than a little frustrated. They were no closer to figuring out the meaning of Virgil's second prophecy, other than implication that these cursings would continue until they were able to determine who was responsible and where they were obtaining these cursed objects in the first place.

_"Are they placing the curses on these objects themselves, or are they obtaining objects that were cursed beforehand? Though I'm not entirely sure how one would go about obtaining pre-cursed objects.."_

"Borgin and Burkes?" Virgil and Roman piped up in response to Logan's musings, almost simultaneously. 

"..you know what Borgin and Burkes is, Princey? Huh. Wouldn't peg you as the type."

Roman rolled his eyes. _"Well no, I'm not the type, and neither are you. But, like you, I happen to have family members with a more than passing interest in the Dark Arts."_

Oh. Virgil supposed that made sense. Roman did come from a pureblood family, after all - and certain purebloods were very picky about who their kind interacted with. Virgil wasn't sure if the offenders in Roman's family were distant relatives or immediate relatives as they were in Virgil's case, but he did find himself curious.

Curious, about Princey's personal life. What was the world coming to?

The prophecy wasn't the only thing weighing on Virgil of course, though it was the only one he felt like discussing openly with the others. The intrusive thoughts, as Logan called them, were worsening, occurring more frequently - yet Virgil stayed silent about the majority of them. There were times where he could not hide what he was experiencing, and someone (usually Logan) would attempt to aid or comfort him, but it did little to help - and he felt guilty for that. He knew that they were trying their best, after all.  
Virgil noticed that Era didn't speak up much during this meeting, but wasn't sure how to bring it up to her without making it seem awkward. It wasn't until the five of them were filing out of the classroom and heading back to their respective dorms that Era pulled him aside.

_"Did you threaten my brother?"_

"What? No!" At first he thought she was joking, but then he read the expression on her face. Her eyes were searching his face. She was trying to read him as well. Trying to ascertain whether he was telling the truth.

Whatever she saw there apparently corroborated his innocence, because her demeanor switched from accusatory to something a lot more casual.

_"Astrit said that you'd been following him around, and that a few days ago you came up to him and told him to watch his back or he'd end up like his friend."_

Oh.

"Well, uh..he's not wrong? I did do all of that."

Era arched an eyebrow. _"So you did threaten him then?"_

Virgil squeezed the bridge of his nose with his middle finger and thumb. "No, I wasn't threatening him. I was warning him."

_"By following him around and telling him to watch his back? Weird way of showing it."_

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Do you have to rub it in? Obviously I didn't pick the best way to go about it, but I wasn't trying to intimidate him. I'm not like that." _Anymore._ The word hung heavy on the air, left unsaid but its presence felt nevertheless.

_"What would even make you think that he would be in danger?"_

"He was there when his teammate was cursed. Depending on who is responsible and what their motive is, he might have seen something they didn't want him to and might go after him next. It's what I'd worry about if I were in his shoes." 

Era seemed to consider this for a few moments before nodding in affirmation. _"I'll discuss that with him. He's more likely to listen to me than anyone else."_

Good, that meant that she saw merit in his concerns. That was all that he was hoping for.

"Anything else before I go?"

Era shook her head. Virgil and Era said their goodbyes and Virgil set off for the Slytherin Common Room.


	17. Chapter 17

It all started at another one of their meetings.

The quintet was no closer to decoding Virgil's prophecies, and frustrations were running high. Logan was generously massaging his own forehead with his fingers as Roman spoke in detail of an elaborate plan to sneak into the Restricted Section of the library using a diversion created by none other than Roman himself to create a scene near the front of the library so that the others could sneak in undetected.

Needless to say, none of the others were particularly fond of this plan, and it was not gaining much traction. In fact, the conversation in the room primarily consisted of Roman spouting off idea after idea regarding said diversion, and Logan pointing out flaws in Roman's theory. Though this was somewhat entertaining to watch, it did not get them any closer to solving their dilemma, and thus he was starting to grow antsy.

Patton shot a worried glance in Virgil's direction, then cleared his throat. Logan and Roman both paused in mid-conversation. _"I have an idea that might work?"_

Logan sighed. _"Well it can't be any worse than any of Roman's hair-brained schemes."_

_"Hey!"_

Logan ignored Roman's outburst and placed all of his attention on Patton instead. _"What was your idea, Patton?"_

_"I'm surprised no one's thought of this before, I mean it seems pretty obvious..has anyone thought to talk to the Divination professor?"_

Logan mulled over what Patton was saying. _"That is actually an idea that possesses some merit."_ Patton beamed.

Virgil and Era, on the other hand, frowned. "I dunno, the Divination professor?"

Era added, _"We don't discuss anything involved prophecies in class. It's always different methods of Divination, but little about the actual Sight."_

Virgil scratched behind his neck. "I'm not sure if the professor would even know what a prophecy was if she witnessed one herself."

Era frowned. _"I'm not sure if I'd go that far...there has to be a reason why she was hired as a Divination professor, after all."_

"Because they couldn't find anyone else who wanted the job?"

Logan cleared his throat this time. _"If I may..Era is correct in that your professor might actually have more knowledge pertaining to the subject of prophecies than she may be permitted to discuss during class. Remember that the curriculum at Hogwarts has certain standards that it must adhere to, and that it is entirely possible that prophecies are not discussed because the majority of the students in Divination class will never come across a prophecy. But they do frequently come across tea leaves, crystal balls, and other items that may be used for more mundane forms of Divination."_

It was this conversation that led to Virgil anxiously waiting for the end of class so that he might speak with the professor. Era offered ahead of time to stay behind to offer him back-up, but Virgil declined her offer. These were his prophecies, it was up to him to do the dirty work.

As all of the students began to file out of the classroom, leaving Virgil behind still sitting in his seat, he began to second guess this strategy. Oh, if only he could find a way to call Era back..

_"Mr. Thompson? Class has already let out. I was under the impression that you did not wish to stay in my classroom any longer than you had to."_

Right. He and Professor Avenir weren't on the best of terms with one another.

Mostly because he wasn't exactly quiet about his disdain for what they learned in class. And perhaps if he wasn't an actual Seer he might have found the class more interesting. 

"I don't. But I have a Divination related question and who better to ask about Divination than the Divination professor?" Common sense - though he still had his doubts as to whether he'd get anything useful out of Professor Avenir.

_"What is your question?"_ She looked skeptical, which Virgil found amusing. But he resisted the urge to laugh. He had a feeling that laughing at the very woman he was trying to get answers out of wouldn't be conducive to his success.

"Do you know anything about prophecies?"

Professor Avenir frowned. _"That is NEWT level subject matter, and as I doubt you intend to carry on with Divination at NEWT level given your disinterest in Divination thus far.."_

"But you do know about prophecies."

Professor Avenir looked annoyed that Virgil cut her off, but nodded. _"Yes. There are varying levels of the Sight, but those who possess the power to make prophecies are regarded as Seers on the highest level."_

Virgil leaned over and pulled a notebook out of his bag. "Could you..I have a couple of prophecies here that I'd like you to look over and see if you can make sense of?"

His voice was quiet and unsure, a far cry from the usual bravado that Professor Avenir saw from him. It was this, most likely, that led to Professor Avenir wordlessly taking the notebook from him and reading the two prophecies over.

_"Intriguing. When did you come across these two prophecies?"_ She would ask that first, wouldn't she?

"A couple of friends told me about them." Not technically a lie.

The professor nodded, reading them over again. _"Were they made by the same Seer?"_

Virgil nodded. 

_"I would be willing to bet that they are connected then."_

"Yeah, we worked out that much already." So far the professor was merely stating the obvious, which provided little in the way of assistance.

_"Do you happen to know when these prophecies were made?"_

"They were made recently, and we think they pertain to recent events in the school."

Professor Avenir frowned and looked over her glasses at him. _"They very well might. Do you mind if I look into these? You can keep your copies of course, but I would like to copy them down for myself.."_ The professor waved her wand and a self-writing quill began to copy down the words from the pages Virgil showed the professor to a blank sheet of paper.

"Be my guest." Virgil was not particularly enthused about the idea of one of the professors having unmitigated access to his prophecies, but he felt that sharing that he was the Seer who made the prophecies in the first place would cause even more unwanted attention. He'd already been accused of being responsible for the cursings once, he didn't fancy having the Headmistress' prying, accusatory eyes on him once more.

As he exited the Divination classroom and descended down the stairs, he found it more and more difficult to disguise how disappointed he felt about how this confrontation turned out. Relieved that nothing worse came of it, that the Divination professor did not somehow see through him make the proper connection between Virgil and the prophecies (despite lacking vital pieces of information that would connect him in the first place) - but disappointed. He realized that after searching for so long with the others for answers, he'd hoped for an immediate fix, someone with access to a greater knowledge based being able to decipher the cryptic messages.

Disappointed..yet also, in some ways, comforted by it?

He and his friends might lack the answers, but so did the one professor that he spoke with on the subject. They weren't just stumbling and missing something obvious, they were participating in a genuinely difficult undertaking and doing the best that they could.

Maybe Professor Avenir would come across something that would help. Maybe she would not. But the feeling of being backed into a corner with no escape lessened after his encounter with Professor Avenir. A professor reached the same conclusions that they did after glimpsing the prophecies. A professor did not have all the answers. Things weren't hopeless just because Virgil, Patton, Logan, Roman, and Era didn't have the answers - sometimes the answers were not in plain sight. They could, and should, keep looking, and this time they had an unknowing sixth person to join their efforts.

Virgil decided to head back to his dorm early. He had an essay to work on, and as tempting as it was to leave all of it to the last minute, he knew he'd be kicking himself heartily later on.

Virgil sat cross-legged on his bed, opening up his Transfiguration book and grabbing paper and a quill. Storm bounded up to him at once, meowing loudly and rubbing against him. "Hey girl, I missed you too!" Virgil went to scratch behind her ears, but she backed away from his touch. Virgil looked at her in confusion. "Storm?"

She meowed and bounded off the bed. "What is it, Storm?"

She led him over to one of his dormmates' beds..Shane, if he recalled correctly. He hadn't even realized that one of his dorm mates was in the dorm, the other teen had been so quiet.

Was he asleep? How did he manage to sleep through Storm's incessant meowing? Virgil leaned a bit closer.

Then Shane began shaking uncontrollably, and Virgil let out a scream.


	18. Chapter 18

Virgil's ears rang. He wasn't sure how long he stood there unable to move, but he was aware of others coming into the dorm. Voices, further commotion. Finally he felt someone grab him by the arm. Virgil allowed himself to be lead by this person. He didn't even question the person's identity until they sat him in an empty chair in the corner of the Slytherin Common Room. A male's voice cut through the ringing.

_"Take a seat and try to catch your breath."_

What did the man think he was trying to do? It was such a stupid request that Virgil bared his teeth and hissed at the man.

...only to realized that he'd just hissed at his Head of House.

Thankfully, the man merely raised an eyebrow rather than get upset.

Virgil knew that what happened wasn't his fault, but he could not help going through all of the 'what ifs' in his head. What if he'd finished up with the Divination professor sooner? How long did Shane lay there? The shaking indicated that Shane was alive, but if he'd been up in their dorm alone for several hours, who knew what sort of condition he was in?

That Shane might have entered the dorm shortly before Virgil entered crossed his mind as well, but even still - if Virgil had been there, could he have done something? Could he have witnessed the curse as it was first happening and gotten help straight away? Why had he just stood there and screamed? 

_"Breathe."_ Professor Foley's voice reminded him, and he tried to recall what Logan taught him. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold breath for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds. He did that several more times. He was unsure whether it was the actual breathing exercise that helped, or the fact that focusing on counting the seconds diverted his focus from his racing thoughts, but it did provide some assistance.

Professor Foley spoke up once again. _"Let's get out of here..it's about to get hectic again in here really soon."_

Virgil nodded, still feeling somewhat numb as he and the professor exited the Slytherin Common Room. Virgil followed Professor Foley to his office, where Professor Foley gestured for him to have a seat. In a way he was relieved, because there wouldn't be anywhere near the amount of commotion in the professor's office as there would be back in the Slytherin Common Room - but he had his suspicions as to why Professor Foley brought him to his office, and it wasn't just to offer him a respite.

Professor Foley cleared his throat and held out a couple of snacks for Virgil to choose from. A package of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and a Chocolate Frog, to be exact. Virgil went with the Chocolate Frog. There was too much uncertainty with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and it would be his luck that he would wind up with a vomit flavored one when his stomach was already churning from the recent rush of activity.

"I didn't have anything to do with this."

 _"I didn't say that you did."_ Virgil could feel Professor Foley's eyes on him, but he deliberately averted his gaze, glancing anywhere but at Professor Foley's face. 

_"Whether or not you had anything to do with this yourself isn't what matters right now, though. What matters most is if you saw anything out of the ordinary."_

Virgil shook his head, shame washing through him. He should have noticed something out of the ordinary. He should have known that someone else was in the dormitory with him. He should have figured out what Storm was trying to tell him sooner. He knew that there was truly nothing that he could have done to fix this, that what happened happened, but it didn't stop him from living it over and over again, trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong and what he could have done better after the fact.

"I was going to start working on homework when Storm - my cat - came over to me and started meowing. She was behaving strangely and ran over to Shane's bed, so I went over there with her. And..that's how I found him."

His eyes widened and he gripped the side of his chair as a realization struck. He'd been standing over Shane when he was found. He'd been accused of being involved with the cursings in the past. He was, somehow, nearby when every single curse occurred. This didn't look good. A shiver went through him. Professor Foley frowned.

_"Are you alright?"_

He wasn't, but Virgil forced out an exhale and nodded. Were Virgil to meet Professor Foley's gaze, he would see that the man did not look convinced, but nothing about the Head of Slytherin's gaze was accusatory. Instead, it was concerned - almost paternal.

_"For what it's worth, I don't believe that you had anything to do with this. I believe that you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That said, your presence is important, and if you do recall anything that you think might be of importance to this case, do not hesitate to tell me, the Headmistress, or any other adult."_

Virgil chewed on his lip. "Do you think they might close the school if this continues to go on longer?"

The professor let out a drawn out sigh. _"I'm not certain. As of yet, no one has been killed - but three students have been cursed, and each of them have wound up in St. Mungo's. I cannot say for certain, because that is ultimately the Headmistress' decision. I do not think that we will be closing our doors yet, but I cannot pretend that the thought hasn't crossed any of our minds."_

A few hours passed before Virgil was allowed to exit Professor Foley's office, and the air in the office grew more and more uncomfortable as time passed. He was grateful when the professor finally opened the door, and he rose to his feet, ready to head out and try to find the others so that he could discuss recent events with him.

He had no such luck, and when the professor opened the door, it was to greet the Headmistress, who had a stern yet concerned look on her face. That was a rarity; Virgil usually only saw her with the former and not the latter. 

_"I come with graver news still. The young man in the Slytherin dorms is stable, though it may take him a few weeks to recover from the effects of this curse. But in our search of the school, we've made another discovery." ___

__There was a pause, and then.._ _

___"A boy in Gryffindor by the name of Astrit Zupan has gone missing."_ _ _


	19. Chapter 19

Virgil's original plan upon leaving Professor Sanders' office was to meet up with the others and discuss the latest turn of events. It was something that he found much more difficult than he originally intended, because the Hogwarts staff instated a new policy in light of what was happening in the school.

The policy made sense. Virgil would conduct something similar were he in their shoes. As a student impacted by the changes? He found it annoying. He realized that no exceptions could be made, for every student could be considered a suspect, nor did they want any other students to go missing - but making sure that an adult chaperone was with students at all times made it incredibly difficult to find free time to talk with one's friends without having to worry about an adult overhearing it.

It also meant no more meetings in the abandoned classroom for the foreseeable future. They could ask a professor to stand guard outside of the room, but that would also meant that said professor would wonder what they were discussing that could not be said in front of a professor in the first place, and that would introduce another headache to the mix.

It was easiest to talk during those moments when they were in class or in the Great Hall - Not entirely private places, but areas where they could still carry on conversations with one another and expect others to be wrapped up enough in their own conversations that they would hopefully not listen in. 

Some conversation topics Virgil did not mind if others overheard. In Divination, for example, Virgil was able to speak with Era one on one and ask how she was holding up after the disappearance of her brother.

_"I'm still not sure what might have happened. I've told the professors everything that I can that I think may be helpful, but to their knowledge no one entered the building who was not already present within the building - which means that the first person I thought of who might be the culprit likely isn't."_

Virgil frowned. "Who?"

Era sighed. _"My brother..he spent the first several years of his life with his mother's family - His two other sisters, his mother, and the man that he thought was his father."_

"Sounds complicated."

Era nodded. _"The man thought that he was Astrit's father as well, until he discovered one day that..that wasn't the case. And he treated Astrit differently after that point. Eventually he and his mother came to live with us..my father, who was his actual father, and I, and..it's been mostly happy since then. But I still can't help but worry sometimes.."_

Wow. And he thought his family had issues. Then again, he supposed that when it came to the subject of families, normal was relative.

..pun not intended, though Patton would be proud nevertheless.

He understood what Era meant, though. If there was no evidence of anyone breaking into the school, it either meant that the man Era spoke of had a way of getting into the school without being detected, or he had nothing to do with Astrit's disappearance at all, and there was something else at play.

Neither option was particularly pleasant.

The next time that Virgil saw Logan, the other presented with what appeared to be an ordinary rock. "Uh, why are you giving me a rock? Is this some sort of Muggle world fad?"

Logan chuckled. _"No, no. I had an idea. I noticed that one way that you cope with emotional distress is by fidgeting."_

Not sure where the two connected, Virgil nodded. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with giving me a rock?"

Logan smiled. _"Watch."_ The rock was just the right size to turn over and fidget with in his hand. He handed the rock back to Virgil. _"It's called a worry stone. I believe that having an outlet to fidget might help to lessen your anxiety somewhat. Now you try."_

Virgil did, and was surprised to find that fidgeting around with the coin in his hand did, in fact, offer him some assistance. One corner of his mouth twitched upward at Logan. "Thanks."

It was rare to see a smile like the one that Logan gave him in response to that statement, and Virgil decided that he liked it and wanted to see smiles appear on Logan's face like that more often. Even if the worry stone wouldn't help with most of his more pressing anxieties, it would give his fingers something to do when he itched to move them - and the fact that Logan knew him well enough to realize that brought a full smile to Virgil's own face.

The only two places the entire group could meet to talk were in the Great Hall and on the Quidditch Pitch. Virgil wasn't particularly in to Quidditch games, sometimes skipping them if he had the chance (he didn't like sitting in the stands much either, between the crowds and the heights), but as he rarely had an opportunity to talk with the others unimpeded, he decided that it was best to take this opportunity.

Fortunately, Roman was the only one out of the five to play Quidditch - and this particular Quidditch match was not one that Gryffindor was participating in. That meant that all five of them could gather and talk, and as Quidditch matches were attended by multiple adults, the presence of chaperones wasn't anything particularly unusual.

_"So, what was it like to see a cursing up close?"_

_"Roman!"_

_"Oh Patton, I feel terribly for the boy that was cursed, don't get me wrong, but inquiring minds do want to know! I would like to know what to look for in the future so that I can jump in to aid if need be."_

Logan frowned. _"By my understanding, the cursings effect the victims different each time, depending on how the object was cursed. There is not just one single curse being cast on these objects, these are objects cursed with multiple different curses. That leads me to believe that they are NOT being cursed by the culprit or culprits themselves, but rather were pre-cursed objects purchased by those who are planting objects on others and allowing the curses to take effect."_

Patton looked puzzled. _"Shouldn't it be easy to trace who's responsible then? Just look at a record of who bought what!"_

Roman and Virgil both shook their heads and opened their mouths to speak. Roman looked across at Virgil in surprise, but Virgil waved his hand, inviting Roman to talk. _"It's not that simple, Patton. Though sales records are usually kept for most items within the wizarding and Muggle worlds alike, that is not always the case for illegal objects - and this, again, applies to both wizarding and Muggle objects. If these objects were purchased at Borgin and Burkes or some other object in Knockturn Alley, it is very likely that a record was not kept of who purchased them..the seller, in fact, might not have even asked who was purchasing them or what for."_

 _"What's Knockturn Alley?"_ Patton asked out of curiosity.

"I believe it is what could be deemed as the wizarding world's version of the black market, so to speak." Logan explained to Patton, who seemed to comprehend the concept better after Logan likened it to a Muggle phrase.

 _"That doesn't answer what happened to our fair maiden's brother, however,"_ Roman looked to Era, who'd been abnormally quiet during this conversation. Not that one could blame her given the circumstances.

_"It's alright guys, I understand that there's a lot more that we can do about the cursings than we can about Astrit's disappearance. I just have no idea where he could have even gone to, or why..I just know he didn't go of his own free will. He would have told me. And if he could, he would have attended this Quidditch game..he loves Quidditch. He's not here. Where is he, and is he okay?"_

Patton put his arm around Era's shoulder and squeezed tightly in an attempt to comfort the Gryfifndor. But Patton had no answers. None of them did.

\-----------------------------------------------

Astrit's eyes blearily opened. He felt groggy and disoriented, as if someone cast a particularly powerful stunning spell on him and he was still suffering from the after effects. He saw a figuring standing over him and glanced up at once, his eyes widening in horror as he heard the man speak in Serbian.

_"Good morning. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."_


	20. Chapter 20

Virgil found himself fiddling with the worry stone that Logan gave him more and more often. It was comforting, having something in his hands that he could play around with whenever he wished to. And he found an increasing need for something to calm himself as of late. OWLs were fast approaching, after all, and it made him feel constantly on edge to know that even trips to the bathroom from class required that he be accompanied by an escort.

Era was still a mess (and who could blame her), Patton was more skittish than usual, Roman wanted to fight everyone and everything that he came across, Logan constantly had his nose buried in a book, and Virgil..

Virgil wasn't even sure what to do with himself. He tried to avoid his dorm whenever he possibly could, besieged by memories of Shane seizing on his bed every time he stepped foot in there, and he really only went there to sleep if he absolutely had to. Otherwise, he'd attempt to sleep in a corner of the Common Room. He didn't much like sleeping in public places, but it beat sleeping somewhere where an acquaintance of yours was cursed.

The unfortunate result was that Virgil had almost constant bags under his eyes, noticeable even behind the dark eyeliner that he wore underneath his eyes. He felt fatigued almost constantly, and sometimes it felt as if he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. 

What the school truly needed was a break in the case. And then, one day..they found it.

Virgil jolted awake from the spot where he was sleeping in the corner of the Slytherin Common Room when he heard the Headmistress' voice, amplified through a charm, echoing around the Slytherin dungeons and instructing all Slytherins to come to the Slytherin Common Room.

The Headmistress' eagle eyes surveyed the room. _"I have reason to believe that the culprit behind the cursings is in here, and I will not pause until I find them."_

Virgil's heart hammered in his chest. He wasn't sure if he was imagining the Headmistress' eyes lingering on him for a few seconds longer than it did most of his classmates, but he began to fiddle with his necklace almost incessantly. The woman continued the peer around the room, her eyes finally stopping. Virgil followed her gaze, and gaped at what he saw there.

Deceit.

The Headmistress strode forward at once. Lionel Thompson smirked and arched an eyebrow back at her. _"I am entirely innocent. If you are suggesting that I had anything whatsoever to do with the cursings, you are sadly mistaken."_

Virgil stared at the scene before him, unsure what to make of it. On the one hand, knowing how his brother was raised and who he looked up to, it shouldn't surprise him to learn that his brother graduated to something a lot more complex than just bullying. On the other..this was his brother, and as toxic as his brother could be, this still came as something of a nasty shock. He knew his brother was bad, but he didn't know his brother was that bad.

Nor could he tell if his brother was genuinely trying to deflect blame or playing games as usual. Sometimes he wondered if even Deceit could tell anymore.

_"We have discovered a list of those that you have targeted in your dorm, including a few others in addition. We have placed these students under extra protection, so if anyone else has been assisting you with these deeds, they will be safe from any of their or your tricks. The game is over, Mr. Thompson."_

Deceit let out a snort. _"Oh, you think it is that easy, do you? You think that if you rid the school of me you will put an end to this. You are sadly mistaken, Headmistress. Have you ever heard of a Hydra? Where you cut off my head, two more will appear in my place. You will not be putting a stop to the so-called horrors by taking me in - They will have just begun! Do you still wish to proceed, Headmistress?"_

The Headmistress, to her credit, did not look impressed. She stood to the side as two aurors from the Ministry stepped past her and strode up to Virgil's brother. Virgil knew that his mouth was hanging partially open, but he was not expecting something like this - and he still wasn't sure what to think of it. He felt oddly relieved, but also betrayed and disgusted that someone this close to him was capable of something like this.

Days passed. The threat appeared to be over at last. No further cursings plagued the school after Deceit was taken to the Ministry. The first student to be cursed was even back at school, only suffering from minor remaining effects from the curse that he endured. He also enjoyed an extra bit of popularity. Being the first cursed student to return to school meant that a lot of people had a lot of questions for you. Go figure.

Virgil received a howler from his father that he thankfully opened in the presence of only Logan and Patton, asking him why he didn't stop his brother from carrying out something so hideous, so wrong. Once the howler was done screaming at him Virgil rolled his eyes and crumpled up the accursed piece of paper, shoving it in the garbage. It was garbage in more ways than one, because Virgil knew that Linus Thompson secretly approved of everything that his son did - He was only upset that Lionel got _caught_.

He supposed that it made sense in the end. The darkness was indeed closer than he thought - He would never have expected his brother, though he hindsight he realized that he should have. His father trained his brother for something like this all of his life, and attempted to do the same to Virgil.

It was one thing to hear your family talk about such horrid things, though, and another for them to actually act on those words. It made him not want to even go home the following summer. Were it not for his mother, he probably wouldn't - but he wasn't sure what would happen to his mother if he did not go home. 

Security lessened at the school as time passed, though there were still frequent hall monitors. Everything began to return to normal, and OWLs became the most pressing matter on every fifth year's list. Logan almost constantly had his nose buried in a book for a different reason, something Roman had taken to poking fun at Logan about. 

The group was still meeting, though, because there was one mystery that had yet to be solved - The disappearance of Astrit. From what Virgil heard, Deceit would dance around the answer every time someone asked him where Astrit was, implying that he knew more than he was letting on but that he refused to say anything of substance on the matter. Virgil could see his brother's smug grin in his mind's eye.

They still had work to do..


	21. Chapter 21

It was a nice spring day, and thus as soon as classes ended for the day most of Hogwarts headed outside. Virgil was not amongst this group - He never had been much for the outdoors. Roman and Patton wanted to go out to the lake, which left Virgil and Logan to do what they pleased indoors. Virgil wound up accompanying Logan to the library, though he didn't do much studying while he was there.

They weren't alone. Virgil spotted a familiar face seated two tables away. He prodded Logan with two fingers, Logan shooting him a glare.

_"Ouch! What is it?"_

Virgil pointed over to where Era was seated. The two rose to their feet and walked over to where Era was seated.

_"Mind if we join you?"_

Era shook her head and gestured for them to take a seat. Virgil and Logan sat next to each other, in the two seats opposite Era. Virgil was in the seat directly across from the Gryffindor, and thus could easily glimpse what he couldn't from a distance - Era had bags under her eyes, and when she smiled to greet them it did not reach her eyes.

_"I'm sorry about your brother."_ Logan said after a long moment, apparently deciding it was best to confront the elephant in the room head-on rather than beat around the bush.

Era shrugged. _"There's nothing to be sorry about. You didn't do anything to him."_

"Yeah, but we still don't know what happened to him..."

_"You don't think I know that? We don't know what happened to him, and that's the problem. Once they found out Deceit was responsible for the cursings, it was like they stopped caring, but they never did find my brother. We barely even have staff lookouts in the hall anymore! Where is my brother? What if this happens to someone else?!"_

Virgil flinched. He couldn't blame Era for how she felt, but he hadn't expected an outburst like that so soon in the conversation. Even Logan looked taken aback.

_"I've been wondering the same thing, admittedly."_ the Ravenclaw remarked, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah...Era, I can't, uh, say I know what you're going through but...but you're not the only one who feels weird about this whole thing." Virgil wasn't sure if it would help. After all, he felt weird about something almost all of the time - and it wasn't uncommon for him to worry about something that turned out to be nothing.

_"I can understand where it would make sense to blame Deceit, as he is responsible for the cursings. But he has yet to own up to that particular action, and he has yet to share Astrit's whereabouts,"_ Logan observed. _"Which means that either he's remained mum for some sinister reason..."_

_"..or he had nothing to do with it."_ Era finished. She let out a shaky sigh, a couple of stray tears falling down her cheeks that she hastened to wipe away.

Virgil and Logan looked at one another. Out of their quintet, Virgil and Logan were the last two people that one would choose to comfort someone in tears. Patton and Roman would be a much better fit, but they weren't in the library with Era.

Virgil place a hand on Era's shoulder and squeezed. "We have your back."

Logan cleared his throat. _"Yes...we will be here for you if you need us. We will do what we can to help."_

Era managed a few chuckles. _"You two don't have much experience with this do you?"_

Logan looked affronted. Virgil just smirked. "Not bad for our first time, was it?"

Era chuckled once more. _"Let's just say it could have gone a lot worse."_

The three parted soon afterward. He felt for Era, and he wanted to help her - but how? Whether or not Astrit's disappearance had to do with the cursed students, the way the acts were committed differed in method.

..or were they? Had Astrit touched a cursed object that made him vanish? Virgil hastened his pace toward the Slytherin Common Room. He didn't look forward to spending more time in his dormitory after what happened to Shane (his gut tightened at the memory), but he needed to do some research again- and for that he needed the book he'd taken from his father's library.

He wasn't sure if any such cursed objects existed, but he wouldn't know until he looked into it. When he arrived in the room he shared with a few others, he peered briefly at Shane's bed as a shudder went through him. It was easier to deal with when there were others in the room with him. When he was alone in the room...

_Virgil crept closer, growing increasingly worried as Shane did not respond to the sound of Virgil's voice saying his name. Was he not speaking loud enough? Virgil took a few more steps, practically on top of Shane by this point. Shane's eyes flew open, unseeing, as heavy tremors wracked his entire body. Virgil stumbled backward as a scream tore it's way from his throat._

Virgil backed away from Shane's bed. It was hard to even look at the bed without flashing back to that moment. He closed his eyes and tried to reason with himself that it was all over with, that Shane was recovering in St. Mungo's and would be back at Hogwarts once the healer in charge deemed him ready for it.

Virgil initially planned to do some reading in his dorm, but he knew it was going to be much too hard to concentrate when he was devoting so much of his energy on not even looking in the direction of Shane's bed.

He'd find a place. He usually did. Maybe the classroom they usually used for their meet-ups? Even if someone did interrupt him there, it would more than likely be a member of their quintet, and he intended to talk to them about his research at some point anyway. His mind made up, Virgil set off for said classroom. The book was nestled deep within his bag. Hopefully he'd be able to concentrate better once he got there.


	22. Chapter 22

As soon as their informal 'study' group met again in the usual time and place, Virgil explained his theory to the others.

 _"You think Astrit encountered a cursed object that caused him to vanish? Wouldn't that just make it a portkey?"_ Roman interjected after a moment.

"I mean yeah, but depending on where the portkey takes you..it could still be considered a cursed object?" 

_"Virgil is correct. Sometimes it is not about the spell itself but rather the intent behind the spell. Portkeys are not in and of themselves dark magic, but if they transport you to a dangerous place, they could still be considered 'cursed' in the sense of the definition we've been following."_

_"Astrit might not even be at Hogwarts anymore? He could be literally anywhere if that is the case."_ Era's voice was quiet, as it often was as of late. Virgil thought back to when Era comforted Astrit after his teammate was cursed. She was clearly incredibly close to her brother. She acted as if a part of her was missing, and based on what Virgil observed? This wasn't too far from the mark.

_"That..that snake is still laughing whenever he gets questioned about it too. They say he won't give them a straight answer about anything."_

Virgil snorted. "Really? I could have told them that. He took on Deceit as a nickname. You'd think that would clue them in." He winced a little at Roman's snake comment, seeing as he was a Slytherin as well.

 _"What if it's not Deceit? What if it's someone else?"_ Era spoke so softly that Virgil had to lean a bit closer to her in order to hear her properly. That was a possibility that none of them wanted to consider, yet they had to if they wanted to properly assess what was happening and find Astrit.

 _"That is exactly why the school cannot afford to be too complacent. Yes, Deceit was caught and there have been no further cursings over the past several days, but that does not mean that the situation has resolved itself."_ Logan furrowed his brow. 

Virgil wasn't sure what to believe. He hated that he found Deceit's guilt to be a surprise. He knew Deceit was taught the importance of blood purity at any cost from his father, but Deceit had gone even farther than their father in actively pursuing this cause.

No one was dead, but three students were sent to St. Mungo's. Three students who could have perished, but luckily the curses were caught early, before irreparable damage could be done to the intended victims. 

No matter how bad he knew his brother was, nothing could have prepared him for the knowledge that his brother was willing to kill to defend the belief that he and people like him were better than everyone else. This was someone he grew up with, shared a house with for the first several years of his life. Someone he convinced himself was looking out for the best for him, taking him under his wing when no one else wanted to.

That was what siblings did for each other, right? It was what Era would do for Astrit. And perhaps Deceit really did feel as though he was doing the best for Virgil in his own twisted way. Perhaps Deceit thought he was doing the best for everyone in his own twisted way.

The whole thing was giving Virgil a pounding headache, and he massaged the bridge of his nose.

Even halfbloods. He'd even gone after halfbloods. He looked at Era, Logan, and Patton. Era and Logan were halfbloods. Patton was Muggleborn. Any one of them could have been next. His stomach churned at the very thought.

And Astrit. He, too, was a halfblood according to what Era told them. 

But if Astrit was one of Deceit's victims as well..why was he still missing?

Was one of the curses a full success after all? Had Deceit actually gone that far? _Would_ Deceit actually go that far?

_"Virgil, are you okay? You chew any harder and you're gonna take off half of your lip!"_

Virgil looked at Patton. "Yeah, just thinking. No big." He rubbed at the back of his neck. He didn't feel well, and it was getting harder and harder to concentrate, but he felt that it was important to discuss this matter and thus didn't say anything that would detract from the matter at hand. Despite being the one to request that Logan call a meeting in the first place, he hoped that Logan would draw the meeting to a close soon enough and that he could head back to his dorm and rest his head.

 _"Excuse me, have we reached a consensus as to what our next move is?"_ Roman piped up.

Virgil sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We're still working on it, Princey."

His hand paused on the side of his head. Roman leaned forward at once. _"Did you think of something, Dark and Stormy Knight?"_

When Virgil did not respond, Roman snapped his finger in Virgil's face. _"Hello, Earth to E-"_

**"DARKNESS LINGERS."**

Roman screamed and scrambled backward, he and his chair falling into a tangled heap on the floor. Patton jolted in his seat from both the sudden outburst on Virgil's part as well as Roman's exaggerated reaction. Logan, on the other hand, looked up from his book and narrowed his eyes. 

Era's gaze shot over to Virgil at once. _"I knew it."_

Logan stared at Virgil intently, waiting for what was to come. Virgil's next words came out in a deep, reverberating echo that everyone other than Logan would recognize. Yet Logan could easily piece together what was happening, based on his own reading and hearsay from the other three. This was, undoubtedly, Virgil's 'prophecy' voice. He'd have to do more research on the subject later on - Partially to satisfy his own curiosity, and partially to help Virgil.

**"THE LIAR WILL LANGUISH IN HIS FOLLY. BEWARE THE DARKNESS, FOR IT THREATENS TO CONSUME ALL IN ITS WAKE. GHOSTS FROM THE PAST WILL MAKE THEIR MARK. THERE IS GREAT DANGER AHEAD."**

A shudder went through Virgil and he slumped forward, eyes flickering before falling closed. The room was silent.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot of Gryffindor angst in this chapter, go figure.

Had Virgil fallen asleep? He could hear the others talking, so he knew he hadn't gone back to his bed, but he couldn't recall putting his head down or even closing his eyes to take a nap. He slowly opened his eyes, immediately noticing that the talking stopped just as he did.

_"Look guys, Virgil's awake again!"_

Virgil glanced over at Patton, then did a quick sweep of everyone else. They were all staring at him. He immediately averted his gaze and instead began to pick at the underside of the table with one of his fingers. Why were they all looking at him like that? 

_"Alright, who's going to tell him?"_ Roman's voice broke through the ensuing silence, and Virgil chanced another glance upward. Good, the attention was on Roman now. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

..tell him what, though?

_"I'm trying to deduce the best way to break the new-"_

_"You made another prophecy, Virgil!"_ He could see Patton leaning closer to him out of his peripheral vision after he'd interrupted Logan, likely checking to see how his 'dark strange son' was doing.

Which..was about as well as anyone would expect him to be after hearing that he made another prophecy.

The groove that he was beginning to gouge in the undersize of the table with his nail grew in size as he picked at it more and more. Logan, ever observant, placed his hand atop Virgil's other hand, the one that still remained above the table, and gave it a squeeze.

Virgil looked over in such surprise that his hand dropped from the underside of the table at once.

_"We realize that this may be an alarming situation for you, but we are all here to determine and decipher what you said and take proper action."_

Virgil swallowed. "I thought...it's been a few months since the last one, I thought the last two were enough?"

 _"So did we, Virge."_ Patton frowned.

_"I can see why you choose to wear the make-up you do. It really adds to the whole Doom and Gloom aesthetic, Chicken Little."_

_"Roman, is now really the time for that?"_

_"Oh come on, you had to admit it was funny!"_

Strangely, despite Logan's chiding, Virgil thought that he had an idea of where Roman was coming from. He glanced over at Roman, who shot him a small yet hesitant smile. This all but confirmed Virgil's suspicions. Maybe at one point Roman's comments were made from malice, but he wasn't trying to be mean. He was trying contribute in his own way, to lighten the atmosphere and cheer his friends up.

He didn't think that he'd ever get along perfectly with Roman, but at least he was starting to understand where the Gryffindor was coming from, and that was a lot farther than he ever thought that he would be with Roman a few months before.

 _"Either way..I feel that this prophecy does confirm one thing."_ Logan attempted to steer the conversation back toward the task at hand.

 _"Just because Deceit was captured doesn't mean the threat is gone."_ Era murmured. 

_"Exactly,"_ Logan confirmed.

"He did say, when he was captured, that capturing him was like chopping the head off of a Hydra. Two more would pop up in his place."

 _"..that scoundrel!"_ Roman slapped the table with his hand, causing the others to stare at him in surprise. _"Virgil, why didn't you tell us sooner?"_

_"I didn't think that it would be important? I figured it was just Deceit talking crap. Plus I figured you would have heard what happened through the grapevine. You're usually on the up-and-up when it comes to gossip, Princey."_

Roman actually looked a little subdued at that comment. _"I uh..I usually am, but.."_

"But what?"

_"I'VE BEEN FOCUSING ON STUDYING FOR EXAMS OKAY?!"_

That made sense, but why did Roman look so dejected over it? _"I usually keep up with everything going on at Hogwarts, but I've been so wrapped up in schoolwork, Quidditch, and this lately that I barely have time for anything else."_

 _"You're..Roman, are you alright?"_ Logan frowned across the table at Roman.

_"I haven't even paid much attention to my Pride, they'll be so upset with me.."_

_"Roman stop."_

Roman glanced upward when Patton told him to stop, immediately falling silent once he saw the stern look on Patton's face. Virgil did not miss the flicker of fear in Roman's eyes, and he suddenly understood what Roman was so afraid of.

He understood because his mind did the same thing to him all the time. Jumping to the worst possible solution, even if it was highly unlikely. Roman was afraid of losing Patton.

_"They'll understand. We all understand. It's been a rough year, and we have exams on top of that. I know your parents are putting the pressure on you to do really well on these exams, but you need to take care of yourself too. You don't have to put it all on your shoulders."_

_"But I..I'm so used to being there for everyone."_

Patton smiled. _"Let us be there for you for a change. You give and give so much, every once in a while you need to open yourself up and be willing to receive. I love you, the others care about you..we're not going anywhere. If you need to relax, just tell us. We'll understand."_

The light was back in Roman's eyes. Somehow Patton knew exactly what Roman needed to hear. Virgil couldn't help but smile himself. Even a chance glance at Logan saw the corners of his mouth twitching up slightly.

Then he glanced at Era, who looked to be trying her best, but she just couldn't pull it off like the rest of them. And was it any wonder why?

 _"So..back to the prophecy."_ Logan cleared his throat, and Era let out a visible sigh of relief. Virgil had a feeling that as much as Era might have wanted to be there for Roman like the rest of them were, Era did not have as much energy to spare for that as the rest of them did. They were all struggling, but Era lost a brother that was like a best friend. It would be wrong to expect that out of her.

Thus it was best that the conversation switched back to the prophecy before things got too out of hand. Virgil glanced at Logan, who had his own talents for observation. Had Logan realized this, and was that why he'd shifted the conversation back to the prophecy in the first place? Or had he just wanted to get the group back on task?

"Guys, what did the prophecy say?" He didn't much like that all of the attention fell back on him as he piped up with this comment, but he couldn't fully participate in this discussion without knowing what was said. 

Roman's face went blank and Virgil wondered if he might have said something to upset Roman again. Then, Roman took a deep breath and spoke. _"DARKNESS lingers. The liar will LANGUISH in his folly."_ Roman slowly raised his hand into a fist and closed his eyes before continuing. _"Beware the darkness, for it threatens to consume ALL in its wake. Ghosts from the past will make their mark."_ He opened his eyes once more, before adding dramatically in a whisper, _"there is great danger ahead."_

Logan stared at Roman for several seconds, blinking. _"That was..incredibly dramatic, but essentially correct."_

Though Roman's display had been overly dramatic, there was one advantage to it. It was drawn out, which meant that Virgil had time to jot down the words to the prophecy. And he wasn't the only one. He saw Era frantically scribbling out of his peripheral vision as well. 

_"Reading these lines again, and thinking back to the comment that Virgil mentioned earlier..I think it's safe to say that Deceit was not working alone."_ Era said, after looking over what she wrote for a moment.

Patton gulped audibly. _"Doesn't that mean.."_

 _"It means that there could be more cursings, yes."_ Virgil's hand clenched into a fist. He'd actually allowed himself to believe that maybe that part of prophecy was over with. And maybe it was? There hadn't been any cursings recently. But Astrit was still missing, and as long as Astrit was missing, they could not close the door on this case.

If Deceit was working with others though..who was he working with? It looked like they had another mystery to solve.


	24. Chapter 24

Knowing that there was still a threat within the walls of Hogwarts, Virgil felt just as unsafe in its halls as he did before Deceit was captured, despite the lack of cursings over the past couple of weeks.

He and the others hypothesized over who Deceit's co-conspirators might be. Other Dark Sides, perhaps? One would think that the Headmistress and Ministry would extensively investigate Deceit's closest friends, but it was impossible to know that for certain. Virgil knew that he personally had to answer a slew of questions after Deceit's arrest, owing to his status as Deceit's younger brother. Once the Headmistress realized that he truly wasn't responsible for any of the cursings, her behavior toward him changed considerably.

About time.

Questions remained, of course. There was undoubtedly still a threat at Hogwarts - but did Deceit even have accomplices? What if Deceit set something up before he left? What if what they were seeking was a separate threat entirely that had yet to show itself? The worst part was, he had to try to hide how much this was bothering him, because the rest of the school had gone back to a state resembling normal. It was almost comforting when the entire school was paranoid of another cursing, because everyone understood. Everyone felt it to some extent, that creeping feeling of discomfort like something was going to leap out from the shadows.

Now? Virgil had to act like everything was fine again, and it wasn't. 

He did have a slight reprieve, at least, when he was with the others. Patton, Logan, Roman, and Era were all aware of the prophecy and thus a lingering threat. 

Oddly, Virgil found that he could relate the most with Era at this point in time, because Era never even experienced the short reprieve that Virgil did. Her brother was never found. The mystery was never solved for her, because she still wasn't sure what happened to her brother, and though there were still investigations into the matter (Virgil overheard a conversation between the Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster at one point that suggested such)? Most of the school took it for granted that all of the trouble stopped with Deceit's arrest.

How foolish.

_"I've been keeping an eye on the Slytherins in all of my classes but none of them have said anything that implies they were working with Deceit!"_ Roman protested in frustration one day.

_"Why does it have to be a Slytherin?"_ Logan remarked with an arched eyebrow, not even bothering to look up from the book that he was reading.

_"Duh. Deceit said it was like a Hydra. A Hydra is a snake. Slytherin is the snake house."_

_"There is also the chance that it was a figure of speech, Roman. We don't even know if the 'two' part was literal."_

"Or if we can rely on any of it as a hint. This is Deceit we're talking about. He's not incapable of telling the truth, but we have no way of knowing if this in particular was the truth or just another mislead." Virgil added on to Logan's prior point. There was a hint of irritation in his tone. He didn't want to get too snippy toward Roman, but he couldn't pretend that the snake comment hadn't rankled him. It was a stereotype that got on his nerves, especially since Deceit played on said stereotype in Virgil's younger years to get Virgil to do what he wanted him to do.

_"Of course you belong with us, Virgil. It's what others expect of you. You don't want to disappoint them, do you? Besides, it's not like you'll fit in with any of the others, so why bother even trying?"_

Virgil ground his teeth at the memory of Deceit's words.

"It's really hard to know what to do when we're back to square one. We don't know if the prophecy is referring to more cursings or something new. We don't know if Deceit's statement means he was actually working with someone or if he was talking out of his a-"

"Virgil, language!"

_"..sorry, Pat. But you know I have a point. We don't know what we're working with. We can toss theories back and forth all we want but we're sitting ducks until we find something that we can act on."_

Everyone parted the room that day feeling as if a dark cloud hung over their head. Virgil could not help but feel partially responsible for this, but it was the truth. There was no use in pretending that they were on the edge of some big breakthrough when they had nothing to go off of. He wasn't saying to stop looking at all, he just..didn't want his friends to get their hopes up for nothing. 

Virgil entered the Divination classroom the next day, taking a seat next to Era as he usually did. He was surprised to see Era looking intently at a small piece of paper that she quickly folded up and stuffed into her pocket once she noticed Virgil approaching.

Huh, that was strange. 

He didn't get a chance to ask her what was going on until after class, as the professor came marching in less than a moment after he did. He hastily took his seat and the class set to work on their newest unit, numerology.

When class let out, he planned on heading after Era, but he had no need to do so. Era wanted for him outside of the classroom. Clearly she had no issue with him looking at the paper in question, she just hadn't wanted to draw attention to it in class.

Not that actually catching a glimpse of what was written there helped to alleviate any confusion. "Is that in Albanian?"

It certainly wasn't English. Era shook her head. _"It's Serbian. Astrit's first language."_

The news that it was in Serbian only added to Virgil's concern. Era folded the paper and placed it in her bag. _"I already showed one of the professors. He asked around and came back to me with a translation just before class."_

Era was tearing up. "Era, I.." He cast a desperate look around for someone who might be of assistance, but the corridor that he and Era stood within was deserted by this point. He wanted to help Era, but comforting..that was not his strong suit. 

_"It says...I'll just show you the English translation."_ She pulled another crinkled up piece of paper from her pocket and practically shoved it into his hand. Virgil unraveled the paper, his breath catching at the words he read.

_Your brother is still alive - for now._


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't know how I feel about this chapter. I rewrote the ending three times because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. Hopefully it came out alright-ish.

_"He's still alive for now?"_ Logan repeated, as if trying to ascertain that he'd heard the words correctly

 _"That's what it said. The staff is trying to work out who sent the note but the handwriting doesn't match anyone's here."_ Era responded.

Virgil chewed on his lip as he considered the evidence that they did have. Whoever it was spoke enough Serbian to craft a message in the language, which cut out a vast majority of the student body and faculty alike. There was also the possibility that the note was actually from someone on the outside working with someone on the inside of Hogwarts who was able to get the note to Era.

Virgil, Logan, and Era were in the library; Patton and Roman were still in Muggle Studies. The two would meet with the other three later on, but for now it was just the odd trio. Odd because out of the quintet, Virgil, Logan, and Era were the least social. 

Not that Era did not have other friends. Just before meeting up with Virgil and Logan, Era briefly introduced them to a Hufflepuff girl by the name of Paige, who seemed nice enough. But Paige was on her way to do homework and couldn't stick around.

This was probably for the best. Small talk was fine, but Virgil didn't like the idea of anyone else finding out about his Sight. Patton, Logan, Roman, and Era were enough.

As the trio were leaving the library to meet up with Roman and Patton, they were stopped by a man that none of them recognized.

_"I'm looking for Virgil Thompson? I was told I'd find him in the library."_

Virgil weighed his options. He could deny it, but that would just be delaying the inevitable and could possibly make it worse for him in the long run. He hesitantly stepped forward. "That's me."

_"Ah yes, I definitely see the resemblance to your brother Lionel."_

Virgil bristled at that. Oh, so this was about Deceit. 

_"I'm with the Ministry - I just have a few questions to ask you regarding our investigation into Lionel Thompson. If you wouldn't mind, we could step into the Headmistress office."_

Virgil swallowed, glancing over at Logan and Era. 

_"Don't worry, it will only take a few minutes. You will be able to join your friends again soon enough."_

Though Virgil was still wary, this reassurance did help. He wouldn't tell Virgil that he would be free to join Logan and Era again in a few moments if that were not the case, would he? Perhaps if the only objective was to get Virgil to come along with him, but the man spoke in front of Era and Logan as well. That meant that Era and Logan would be expecting him to rejoin them within a short period of time.

They arrived at the Headmistress' office a few moments later. Virgil was pleased to see that the Headmistress was nowhere in sight. It was bad enough that he felt like was being interrogated, he did not need two people standing over him while it was being done. He'd be able to talk a lot easier with just one person one on one as well.

_"This is not an interrogation."_

Virgil narrowed his eyes. The man sighed.

_"I mean it. I just have a few questions to ask you about your brother Lionel. You are not accused of any wrongdoing."_

Virgil's countenance eased somewhat at this, but he remained on the defensive.

_"I realize you were under suspicion by the administration here for your brother's crimes..."_

"I know my brother and I used to run in the same circle, but I have other friends now. He and I grew apart earlier this year. And I'm gonna be honest, it's the best thing that's happened to me."

The man looked slightly taken aback at that last statement. Virgil snorted. "What? You've met him. The guy's a jerk. Try growing up with him."

The man actually smiled slightly at this, though then he went back to flipping through a packet of papers within his hands. Notes, most likely.

_"Did you personally witness your brother engaging in any unsavory behavior?"_

Virgil wasn't entirely sure what the man meant by this. Of course he had, but was he referring specifically to the cursings or in general? "I have."

The man nodded and wrote something down. _"Did your brother ever show a prior interest in the Dark Arts?"_

Virgil nodded. The man paused, as if waiting for a verbal response. Virgil wasn't going to give one. To do that meant potentially implicating his father, and though he'd never been on good terms with the man, he worried about the repercussions of doing such a thing. He was only 16 after all, he still had several months to go before he qualified as a legal adult in the wizarding world. He might be angry, but he wasn't stupid.

_"One last question - do you know if your brother ever stepped foot in Knockturn Alley?"_

Virgil shrugged. "He went off to do his own shopping last summer. I dunno if he made any detours or not, but if he did I wouldn't be surprised?"

The man scribbled something then moved to his feet. Virgil followed and stepped through the door as the man held it open for him.

_"Thank you for your assistance."_

He found Logan and Era waiting for him in front of the library. "They just wanted to ask me about Deceit," he explained.

_"Makes sense. You are his brother, as upsetting as I'm sure that is for you."_

"Which part do you mean, the part where I got called in by a Ministry official to play 20 questions or the part where Deceit's related to me in the first place? Because they're both pretty upsetting," he remarked with a wry smirk.

_"Touche."_

_"Virgil Thompson and Logan Dicax?"_

Virgil, Logan, and Era all turned to look at the new voice that entered the fray. A Gryffindor girl stood at the head of the table. 

_"Loiuse Clarke, also know as the girl who was cursed on her way back from Quidditch practice. I owe you a thank you."_


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for references to a breakdown resulting in a brief hospital stay.
> 
> Also, before I forget..this story now has over 1000 hits and 100 kudos! Thank you guys SO MUCH for sticking with this story, even I sometimes wonder if it's too long and drawn out at points (also angsty..oh so angsty). I really appreciate those of you who enjoy my work and have stuck with me all this time, as well as the newer followers who have discovered the story more recently!
> 
> And I'd like to give a special shout out to my friend Koko, or @kokosurvives on tumblr, for essentially being my beta reader and reading through most of my stuff before I post it and pointing out any errors I may have made. You're awesome <3

Two out of three cursed students - four if one included Astrit in that number - were back at Hogwarts. Both had more to say about their experiences leading up to the incidents and their recoveries in St. Mungo's than the cursings themselves.

Virgil felt bad for them. He thought it was bad when others were passing rumors that he did it? Those were only rumors. They had minimal basis in actual fact. Everyone knew that the cursed students were cursed. That garnered them a lot of attention, and Virgil knew that if he were in their shoes he'd have a hard enough time adjusting back to life at school without having to rehash his story to every passing student.

It was especially hard for poor Louise, who still had residual scarring from the curse. Not only that, Louise was both a teammate and a friend of Astrit's, and coming back the news that Astrit was missing hit her almost as hard as Era.

Virgil and Logan occasionally talked to Louise in passing. The three of them had a shared experience that would forever connect them, and it just so happened that said shares experience was the talk of the school. Thus, Virgil and Logan received some residual attention, much to Virgil's chagrin. Add to that the fact that Virgil's older brother stood accused of the cursings? 

He and Logan might not be receiving as much attention as the two cursed students themselves were, but there were still more eyes on him than he wanted. For someone who wanted nothing more than to fade into the background of the social scene at Hogwarts and spend time with the friends that he did, one thing or another kept sending him back to the limelight.

He began to wonder if he was cursed himself.

Era did not show up to their Divination class one day, something that left Virgil worried. He made an offer to Professor Avenir to take Era's classwork for Divination to her once his classes were done for the day.

"Have either of you two seen Era today?" he asked Patton and Roman, who were waiting in the entrance hall for Virgil. 

_"No, she wasn't in any of my classes today."_

Oh, right. Roman and Era were both 5th year Gryffindors, and would thus have a lot of their classes together. So it wasn't just Divination she missed, it was all of her classes.

 _"Maybe she's sick?"_ Patton offered up.

In Care of Magical Creatures, the class studied Kneazles. Though content with Storm for the time being, Virgil made a note to look into Kneazles as a possible pet once he graduated. Wary cat-like creatures with the ability to detect suspicious people? Virgil could relate.

Patton, on the other hand, did not fare as well. After suffering a severe sneezing fit after petting the Kneazle the professor brought to class, it was determined that Patton had an allergy to Kneazles.

 _"It's alright, I'll just have to stick with ordinary cats."_ Patton said with a sniffle, still experiencing the residual effects as the two made their way back to the castle from the edge of the Forbidden Forest where class took place. _"I should have expected it anyways, since they're similar to cats."_

Virgil paused, taking a moment to process what Patton said. "Patton, are you allergic to cats?"

Patton shrugged. _"A little, but it's no big deal."_

"You go to Hogwarts. There are cats everywhere."

_"Like I said, it's not that bad. None of my dorm mates have cats, and if I'm exposed to one somewhere else I just get a little sniffle that's all."_

"Patton, I have a..."

Patton chuckled. "I know you have Storm, but it's ok kiddo, I'm fine."

Just in case, Virgil resolved to pay extra close attention to whether or not his clothes has cat hair on them from then on. Patton's allergies might not be severe, but he wanted to minimize Patton's potential symptoms as much as possible. And it would only take him an extra moment or so to make sure that his clothing was cat hair-free (or as close to it as one could be at Hogwarts).

_"You can go on downstairs Pat, I'm gonna run up to the Gryffindor Common Room and give this to Era..."_

"You won't find her there," a girl's voice interrupted him. He and Patton turned to face the girl who spoke.

 _"Hi Paige!"_ Patton waved to his housemate. Virgil, meanwhile, was less focused on who Paige was than what she was saying.

"Did you say I wouldn't find her in the Gryffindor Common Room?"

Paige nodded. _"You didn't hear? She's in the hospital wing."_

"WHAT?!" Virgil and Patton responded simultaneously.

_"I'm guessing you didn't hear, then. At first it just seemed like she didn't want to go to class, but then one of her classmates came to check on her later on and she was nearly inconsolable."_

Patton gasped. Virgil looked down at the ground. "Of course she's inconsolable, her brother is missing."

Paige let out a sigh. _"Yes, but..she seemed to take it in stride. She kept going on with her life despite everything that happened. We kept telling her how strong she was for doing it..oh no, do you think that might have made her bottle it up more?"_ Paige's hands flew to her mouth. Virgil winced, wondering the same thing. Though they hadn't outright commended Era for her strength in the face of everything that was happening, they'd taken it for granted. Did that make Era feel like she couldn't come forward about how much everything was truly weighing on her?

 _"Guys, guys. This isn't anyone's fault, and focusing on whose fault it is isn't going to help anything. We need to go to the hospital wing and show her that we support her, that we're here for her."_ Patton struck one open hand with his fist as if to accentuate this point.

Virgil initially had plans to drop Era's coursework off to her at the Gryffindor Common Room. He'd still drop off her coursework, but it looked as though his destination had changed. Virgil looked at Paige and Patton, then started off for the Hospital Wing.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uh..yeah. This chapter's a doozy emotionally. If it makes you feel better, the next chapter will be lighter in nature. I realized I've pushed a LOT of angst on you guys and as fun as that can be..yeah, let's just say that the next chapter will focusing more on things that are considerably more lighthearted.
> 
> ..that said, don't think that the angst is completely over with after this. =)

It was odd in some ways. Virgil and Patton were both in beds in the hospital wing earlier in the year, now they were both going to visit someone else.

Virgil wasn't sure what to expect once he lay eyes on Era in the hospital wing, but the first thing he noted when he walked in was how normal she seemed - from a distance, at least. As the small group approached more closely, Virgil noticed several features of Era's face that made him cringe. He ought to have noticed them before, and if he had, could he have prevented it from getting this far? Era had bags under her eyes, which were still faintly red from what Virgil was almost certain were tears shed earlier. Her nose was red, undoubtedly from blowing her nose when crying earlier, and her lip was slightly swollen and bloody where she'd no doubt chewed on them when she tried in vain to continue to keep her emotions in check.

He should have noticed earlier. He should have noticed. He should have noticed because he'd seen every single one of those features in his own face at one point or another, and he knew what they meant. It was bad enough to see one of them alone, but all of them together? 

Instead of voicing all of this, however, Virgil merely cleared his throat and stiffly held out a pile of papers. "Your, uh, coursework from Divination. Professor Avenir wanted me to give this to you."

Era nodded, a ghost of a smile playing across her features as she accepted the papers from him. _"Thank you, Virgil."_ Her voice was quiet, much too quiet. Virgil fidgeted with the hem at the end of one of the sleeves on his robes. 

Ugh, this was pathetic. He wanted to help, but he couldn't even bring himself to talk. He was too nervous about saying the wrong thing, of setting Era off, and yet he also realized that treating Era like she was fragile glass about to break would only make matters worse. He knew because he'd been there before, but he'd never been the best at comforting. His nickname was Anxiety, he made people uneasy and uncomfortable. 

... _he_ was uneasy and uncomfortable.

Era glanced at all three of them, as if taking everyone in for the first time. This time her smile was genuine, if faint. _"Thanks for coming, guys. I should be out soon enough, it's just a little bit of exhaustion. Worked myself a bit too hard with OWLs coming up, a bit of rest and some Pepper-Up Potion and I'll be fine."_

Virgil could hear Paige shuffling uneasily. Patton smiled encouragingly, reaching out and giving Era's hand a squeeze.

Nope. "It's not fine, Era."

Patton stared at Virgil in bewilderment. _"What do you mean Virge?"_

Virgil's eyes were downcast. He wasn't sure if he should have even spoken up. He scratched behind his ear, trying to figure out what he wanted to say. He had to say something now, he couldn't just leave them hanging after blurting out something like that.

"I-I mean...y-you're not fine, Era. You don't have to pretend to be for our benefit."

_"I'm not.."_

"Era, please," a strained sounding laugh forced its way from Virgil's mouth, and he met Era's eyes for a few seconds before dropping his gaze toward the bed because this was already hard enough without trying to force awkward eye contact. Hopefully those brief few seconds were enough to convey to Era just how serious he actually was.

"I know you're not fine, I've been there before. And it's okay not to be fine, at least for right now. Your brother is missing and you don't know where he is or what happened to him. You just received a cryptic note saying that he's still alive for now, implying that he might be in danger, and you're still trying to go about your day to day life like nothing's wrong, but there is. Everything is so terribly wrong and you can only bottle that up for so long. Believe me, I've tried it. I ended up in the same place you did."

He heard sobbing, his gaze shooting back up to Era's face. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. _"I don't know what to do. He's gone. I'm scared that I'll never see him again. I-I don't know what I'd do without him. I'm his older sister, I'm supposed to protect him. I'm supposed to protect him!"_

Virgil could feel himself being jostled out of the way as Patton and Paige both rushed forward to envelope Era in hugs. Virgil opted to stay back. He knew that Patton and Paige were better equipped for this job than he was. 

In fact, he left the Hospital Wing entirely. He'd done what he'd gone to the Hospital Wing to do in the first place. Era had her coursework. Era had Patton and Paige there to hold her hand and hug her and tell her that no, everything might not be fine at the moment but she had people there for her who were rooting for her and who wanted to help her. 

He entered the empty Slytherin 5th year dorm and closed the door behind him, letting out a dark chuckle. He was such a damn hypocrit.

Astrit. Louise. Shane. Deceit. Cursed objects. Intrusive thoughts. Boggarts. Darkness. The thoughts kept swirling in his head. Admittedly, he was doing better than before. He could open up sometimes, with Patton, Logan, Era, and even sometimes Roman. But he still had a long way to go. 

Everyone was worried about Astrit, Louise, and Shane. Everyone was concerned about cursed objects and what Deceit had done. Everyone was still reeling from their encounter with the boggarts. Logan knew of his intrusive thoughts and was doing his best to help Virgil cope with them.

He hadn't told anyone that he still could not sleep looking in the direction of Shane's bed. He had to have his back to the bed, facing the other direction. Sometimes even this wasn't enough, sometimes he would have to venture out to the Slytherin Common Room and curl up in a corner. If found in the morning he would pretend he'd been out there reading and had fallen asleep, but sometimes the dorm was too much.

Sometimes everything was too much.

Virgil curled up on his bed (his back to Shane's bed, of course) and pulled at the hair on the side of his head. What felt like a lump began to grow within his throat, starting small but increasingly rapidly in size. He couldn't stop it. Or maybe he wouldn't stop it. He allowed himself to do something that he so rarely allowed himself to do. And perhaps this was something that he'd needed to do for a long time, just as Era had -

He allowed himself to cry.


	28. Chapter 28

Virgil was glad to see Era in Divination the next day. She'd been kept in observation in the Hospital Wing overnight, but she was doing well enough now that she was permitted to go to class.

That wasn't to say that she was completely recovered. Over the next two weeks Virgil observed that while the bags underneath her eyes shrank, they had not faded entirely. Smiling eventually became easier, but there were times when Era's smile did not quite reach her eyes.

But now that they knew what to look for, Era's friends were better at taking action once they saw these signs. If it happened in Divination class, Virgil tried to steer her off to the side and stand over her, pretending to exchange small talk with her when he was actually shielding her from view so that she had a moment or so to regain her composure without unwanted questions from classmates. If Roman or Patton noticed, they were give her a hug or a kind word. If Logan noticed, he would offer her calm reassurances. If any of her other friends, such as Paige, noticed, they would ask her if she needed to talk.

It wasn't a quick fix, but it was unrealistic to expect it to be. It was, however, progress, and that meant something in itself.

Virgil woke up after another night of falling asleep in the corner of the Slytherin Common Room. He even propped a book on his chest to make it look as though he'd fallen asleep reading. He felt well-rested enough, but sleeping in a chair left him with a crick in his neck that he massaged as he left the Slytherin Common Room to head to breakfast.

He didn't expect to see Logan standing outside of the Great Hall, his arms folded across his chest and his eyes scanning the area as if he were looking for something. Logan's eyes landed on Virgil and he beckoned Virgil over with a wave of his hand.

"Hey Lo. I'm surprised you're not already in there eating."

_"Yes, well, I was hoping to, er, ask you something."_

"Ask me something?"

_"Yes. I noticed that you seemed a little more on edge as of late, and I was wondering if you might like to accompany me to the Astronomy Tower tonight. I sometimes go up there to stargaze at night and find the experience quite calming, and I was wondering if it might have the same effect on you. If you would like to, of course, you don't have to.."_

One corner of Virgil's lips curved upward. "Eh, why not? It's worth a shot."

Logan nodded. _"I was hoping that you might say that. Shall we meet at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower at, say, 8pm?"_

"Yup, sounds good to me."

Virgil did have more than a passing interest in Astronomy, though it wasn't something that he discussed with the others very often. His favorite class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, mainly for the Defense part, but if he had to choose a second favorite he would choose Astronomy. 

When he arrived in Care of Magical Creatures later that day, he informed Patton of what happened. He didn't expect Patton to let out a loud squeal that caused half the class to turn in their direction, and Virgil to hastily redirect his gaze toward his feet. Once the rest of the class ascertained that Patton was merely squealing out of excitement and was not in the process of being gored by a wild beast, they turned their attention back to their own business and Virgil finally felt safe glancing back upward.

Patton was utterly beaming. Virgil wasn't sure what brought about such a reaction in Patton, and part of him was scared to ask. 

_"You're going on your first date! That's so exciting, Virgil!"_

Virgil half expected Patton to grow an extra head on the side of his neck after hearing this statement, and his expression reflected this. "Date? What do you mean 'date'?"

Patton giggled. "Duh, you and Logan are going to the Astronomy Tower tonight!"

"Yeah, just to stargaze and hang out.."

_"If it were just to hang out than why wouldn't he have invited us too?"_

"Cause he wanted to invite me to see if it would calm me down? It's not a date, Patton. There's no way..there's just no way."

As 8pm grew nearer, he found that this invitation was having just the opposite effect. His mind kept traveling back to what Patton said in Care of Magical Creatures. Was this a date? No, Patton was just being silly. Logan wouldn't be asking him on a date. Logan was one of his best friends.

Which wasn't to say that Virgil would be averse to a date on the off chance that it was a date. Logan had a way of knowing just what to say to calm him down, to help him when he needed it most. He and Logan could carry on the sorts of in-depth conversations that would bore Roman or Patton, who preferred their conversations a bit more fast-paced. Logan's wry sense of humor made Virgil laugh.

..but seriously, what were the chances that this was actually a date? It would be silly to even bring it up, because that would just make things awkward in the likely event that it wasn't a date, and might even ruin their friendship.

..but what if it was a date and he assumed that it wasn't and hurt Logan's feelings?

He needed to stop before he drove himself to a panic attack and didn't make it to the bottom of the Astronomy Tower by 8pm at all.

Virgil made it to said location with a few moments to spare, not surprised in the least to see Logan already standing there. Unless something caught Logan's attention and made him lose track of time, Logan was very good about punctuality.

Logan saw Virgil and nodded in greeting. _"Shall we?"_

Virgil, sensing that his ability to respond verbally was temporarily compromised, simply offered a nod in affirmation. The two ascended to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Virgil slipped his hands into the pockets of his robes and watched silently as Logan set up the telescope. 

"Are we...uh..."

_"I figured that it would be best for us share one telescope. Unless you would like your own, of course."_

"Uh, no, that's..that's fine, if you're okay with sharing." Virgil shrugged, trying not to read too deeply into Logan's choice. Just because Logan wanted to share a telescope with Virgil did not mean that he wanted to establish a romantic relationship with him.

..but what if that was what it meant? Was Virgil not showing enough interest? 

Logan peered through the telescope, making several adjustments and aiming the instrument in different areas of the sky before settling on one specific area. He waved Virgil over. Virgil slowly approached the telescope and placed his eye against the eyepiece. 

"That's...it's..."

_"Venus. The second planet from the sun. It is also known as the evening star. I consulted my charts and determined that it happens to be one of the better nights to view it."_

"It's..I've never seen it so clear before in class." Then again, he wasn't always the best at getting his telescope aimed perfectly. Logan seemed to have a knack for it, because this was not only the clearest and brightest that he'd ever seen Venus, but the clearest he'd seen anything through a telescope. 

_"Yes, well, it is closer to Earth than it is on the average night..."_

"No, I mean...the way you positioned the telescope. It's perfect. You, uh, you really have a knack for this sort of thing, don't you?" Virgil looked up from the telescope to glance over at Logan.

_"Yes, well...I have always had an interest in Astronomy. It is one of the careers that I have considered upon leaving Hogwarts, the other, of course, being Potions."_

"I like Astronomy too, but...like, you're great at this. It's like it comes naturally to you." Virgil was surprised to see Logan turn the faintest shade of pink at this compliment. "I'd be looking around for a half an hour before I even figured out where to put my telescope to find Venus. You found it like that." Virgil snapped his fingers as if to accentuate his point.

_"It's..as I informed you before, I determined the approximate location of Venus within the evening sky before we even came up here."_

"That's still pretty neat though, that you're able to work something like that out. You think you could teach me how to do that some time?"

_"I would love to, if you are truly interested."_

"Course I am, I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't, would I?" Virgil smiled, feeling his worries about Patton's teasing earlier starting to fade. 

Maybe this was a date. Maybe it wasn't. Either way, Virgil found that he was genuinely enjoying this, that Logan seemed to feel similarly, and that he was genuinely interested in what Logan had to say. And it was rare to see Logan this excited, this chatty...Logan was truly in the zone, and Virgil could not help but smile and hang on to every word that Logan said.

..and it was indeed calming. Funny, even though they were looking at the stars, he could not help but feel grounded when Logan was with him.


	29. Chapter 29

_"Of all the Forbidden Forests in Europe to be sentenced to detention in and all of the people I could have detention with, I had to have detention with you."_

_"Good to see you too, Dark and Stormy Knight."_

It was mostly in jest at this point. Virgil and Roman had their disagreements, but they were no longer on the contentious terms that they were several months before. Virgil could think of much worse people to have detention with...though somehow it didn't surprise him that Roman wound up in detention. It did surprise him, however, that he and Roman were sentenced to the _same_ detention. He supposed it could have been a lot worse.

"What are you in for?" 

_"Prank gone wrong."_ Virgil snorted and Roman arched an eyebrow. _"What is so funny?"_

"Typical Gryffindor."

_"Shut up. What are you in for, mouthing off to a professor?"_

"...yes, actually."

Now it was Roman's turn to laugh. _"How typical for you."_

There was a pause. Virgil and Roman were friends now, but most of their interactions happened when Patton, Logan, and/or Era were present. They didn't have many one-on-one conversations, and Virgil wasn't sure what to say.

Too bad Roman did.

_"How did your date with Logan go?"_

"My what now?"

_"Did you or did you not go to the Astronomy Tower with Logan two nights ago?"_

"I did...where are you going with this, Princey?"

Roman let out a huff. _"You are utterly impossible. Patton told me that you were insisting that it wasn't a date but I didn't realize you were this deep in denial."_

Virgil shook his head, rolling his eyes. "It's not denial, it's facts. Logan didn't say anything to indicate it was a date..."

_"The guy spent hours pouring over his star charts for you!"_

"He spends hours pouring over his star charts anyway."

Roman paused at that. _"...true. But that is beside the point! He showed you Venus, the planet named after the Roman goddess of love."_

"...because Venus was at an excellent viewing point."

_"You. Are. Hopeless!"_ Roman ran a hand through his hair and let out a grunt of frustration. Virgil could not help but snicker.

Still...Roman had him thinking. He doubted there was anything more to Logan's invite, but what if Roman was right?

One thing remained true - Virgil would not have chosen to take detention in the Forbidden Forest were it up to him. Roman found the whole thing exciting (didn't that defeat the purpose of a punishment in the first place?) but Virgil found the whole thing a nightmare.

In fact, he'd been distracted from his self-appointed task of keeping track of their surroundings because of Roman. To make matters worse, they also lost the professor that was supposed to be supervising them.

"Now look what happened. We've lost Professor Stoakes."

_"They probably ran afoul of one of the acromantulas."_

"WHAT?"

_"I'm kidding. But really, we should start looking for them."_ Roman began to walk toward a particularly thick band of trees. He paused and looked back at Virgil once he realized that the Slytherin had not budged from where he was standing.

"We should stay here."

_"Stay here?"_ Roman looked affronted. _"But what if Professor Stoakes needs our help?"_

Virgil rolled his eyes. "This isn't some heroic mission. We're lost, and you're supposed to stay where you are when you're lost so that it's easier to find you. The professor is probably looking for us right now, let's not making it harder for them." 

Roman still bore a look of fierce determination on his face. Virgil massaged the bridge of his nose. "You're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?"

Roman huffed. _"You can stay here if you want, but I'M going to look for our professor."_ And he strode further into the trees. 

Virgil crossed his arms. Roman could go if he wanted. Virgil would stay where he was. Or at least that was his original plan. Being alone in the Forbidden Forest was a lot more disturbing than being with someone. Every squeak, every noise sent a fresh wave of foreboding crashing over him. He pulled his hood over his head and tried to cover his ears, but it did little to help. 

Finally, he tore off in the same direction as Roman. "Roman wait up." It was a testament to Virgil's fragile state of mind that he referred to Roman by his actual name rather than 'Princey' or some other nickname.

His chest tightened further when there was no answer from Roman. He whirled around, trying to catch a glimpse of the bright red indicative of Roman's Gryffindor robes, but all he could see were the earthy greens and browns of the trees that surrounded him in all directions.

Ugh, Virgil was going to strangle Roman when (if? No, when, it had to be when, don't think that way Virgil) he found him.

He heard a rustling on the side of him, immediately biting down hard on his bottom lip to prevent any noises of alarm from escaping. He did not want to attract unwanted attention from potentially dangerous creatures.

"R-Roman?" He hissed, barely audible. He remained where he stood but brandished his wand in the direction of the tree where he heard the noise. Just how badly he was shaking could be seen in the continuous jerking motions of his wand.

He was expecting Roman, or a professor, or even some sort of creature.

He was not in a million years expecting _Astrit Zupan_.

"Astrit?" 

The boy looked terrible - underfed, ragged, injured, and terrified.

Virgil took a couple of steps toward the younger student. 

_"You need to go,"_ the boy told him. 

"What? I can't go now, we need to get you back to the castle, your sister's been worried sick about you, lit-"

_"You need to leave now,"_ Astrit repeated, Virgil's own words left hanging in the air.

"I..." He couldn't just leave Era's brother, no matter how he insisted...

_"Please. You can't help me if you're here when he returns."_

Virgil's blood felt as if it immediately turned to ice within his veins. He. _He._ Who was Astrit referring to? He was being held captive? If he was being held captive, that meant that whoever was holding him captive couldn't be far...

There was a sudden flash of light, a scream, and everything went black.


	30. Chapter 30

Virgil slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself greeted by a bright light. He hissed and covered his eyes immediately.

 _"Virgil?"_ That was Logan. Where was he? He hadn't been with Logan when he...

Virgil sat up immediately, attempting to climb out of bed.

_"Virgil! Virgil! It's alright, you're safe now! This is the Hospital Wing, not the Forbidden Forest!"_

He stopped trying to get up only because a wave of dizziness fell over him. He laid back, not because he wanted to but because he would pass out otherwise. His heart felt as though it could burst from his chest at any moment. Astrit was in danger, _Astrit was in danger_.

"What..what happened?" 

_"We were hoping that you would have the answer to that question. You, Roman, and Professor Stoakes were separated within the Forbidden Forest. Roman found Professor Stoakes, and the two of them went looking for you. It took them about an hour to find you, by which time you were lying unconscious on the forest floor."_

Virgil closed his eyes, needing a moment to take in what Logan was saying. There was one vital piece of information missing, Virgil realized with a sinking feeling. "What about Astrit?"

Logan cast Virgil a look of confusion. _"They have yet to determine Astrit's whereabouts. They are searching areas near Hogwarts but..."_

"The Forbidden Forest. He's in the Forbidden Forest."

Logan immediately fell silent. Virgil could see that Logan was trying to make sense of what Virgil was telling him. He could also see the precise moment when Logan put the pieces together and realized that the only way Virgil could know that Astrit was in the Forbidden Forest was if... 

_"You saw him. In the Forbidden Forest."_

Virgil nodded. "He was telling me to get away before he came back, though I didn't get a chance to ask who 'he' was before..."

_"Before what?"_

"There was a flash of light, a scream I'm pretty sure came from Astrit, and then I blacked out."

Virgil could practically see the gears turning in Logan's head. This was a relief, as between his own panic and the aftereffects of whatever spell left him unconscious on the forest floor, Virgil was having a difficult time thinking as clearly as he would have liked. _"The man holding Astrit captive must have cursed you."_

He'd seen Astrit, had proof that Astrit was alive...and he'd let Astrit slip through his fingers. He hadn't even put up a fight. All it took was one curse to take him out. What if he was Astrit's last hope? What if Virgil stumbling upon Astrit actually put Astrit in more danger? Now Astrit's kidnapper would realize that Virgil had access to information, however little it was. The knowledge that Astrit was in fact alive, that he'd been in the Forbidden Forest, and that he was a he. It wasn't much, but it was more than they had before, and that might upset Astrit's kidnapper. And what if he took it out on Astrit? The fog encompassing Virgil's mind was beginning to recede, but that only brought more questions - and with more questions came more reasons to fret.

He also felt as though he'd failed Era. Era, who literally worried herself sick over her missing brother, who still had to take it one day at a time.

He felt something brush against his left hand and flinched slightly, glancing down in surprise. It was Logan's hand. 

_"My apologies, I should have informed you of what I was about to do beforehand."_

Virgil merely shrugged in return.

 _"Don't blame yourself,"_ Logan told him.

"I'm not."

_"Virgil, I know you well enough by now to realize that..."_

"I'm not!"

_"Virgil Casey Thompson."_

"..okay, fine. But since when do you know my middle name?"

Logan smirked. _"I told you I know you well enough by now."_

Virgil arched an eyebrow.

 _"..that and Patton told me what your middle name was in a conversation a few weeks ago."_

That made a lot more sense.

Virgil shook his head, closing his eyes. He felt exhausted, something he suspected was a side effect of whatever spell or curse it was that Astrit's captor sent his way. Deep down he knew that Logan was right, that he could not have changed things, but that did not stop the 'what ifs' from playing over and over again in his mind. 

Logan squeezed his hand, an action that drew Virgil's eyes open. _"I told you not to blame yourself."_

Virgil made a huffing noise. "That's a lot easier said than done."

_"I realize this, but I feel the need to say it nevertheless because you need to hear it as many times as it takes for you to realize that it is the truth."_

"...thanks Lo." Logan would have his work cut out for him, because it would take more than a few repeats of 'it's not your fault' for Virgil's mind to let go of this, but the fact that Logan was even there in his corner saying such things did help in its own way.

"Where are Roman, Patton, and Era?" He figured that all three of them would be in the Hospital Wing right now, Roman and Patton because Roman was the one who found Virgil lying on the ground in the first place, and Era because of the news that concerned her brother...

...oh, right, no one knew about that until Virgil told Logan, because Astrit's captor no doubt took Astrit and fled with him after cursing Virgil. That meant..that meant that they still needed to tell the others what happened, and a growing feeling of dread built up in Virgil. He could already imagine the looks on each of their faces, the disappointment when they realized that they were hardly any closer to finding Astrit, that Virgil was in a position where he could have done something and yet he'd done nothing...

 _Deep breaths, Virgil._ He told himself, if only because he didn't want Logan to have to tell him not to blame himself again.

_"Patton is with Roman. I am not all that certain that Era even knows what happened yet, and I'm certain that she does not yet realize that you were the last one to see her brother alive."_

Virgil felt as if his heart skipped a beat, and he went to sit upward. This was new information. "What?! What is that..."

Logan's eyes widened and he hastily gestured for Virgil to lay back down. Not that he need to worry, as Virgil was besieged by another wave of dizziness as he attempted to sit up. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be leaving the hospital wing any time soon, much to his chagrin. _"That's not what I...I did not mean it in that way, I merely meant that you witnessed that he was alive as of a few hours ago, which is more than the rest of us knew as he has been missing for a few weeks now...ah, I'm not very good at this."_

Virgil snorted. "That makes two of us. Where are Patton and Roman when you need them?"

 _"You called?"_ There was no mistaking it - That proud, carrying voice that seemed to echo throughout the Hospital Wing was Roman's. Virgil and Logan both turned to look toward the door to the Hospital Wing.

Roman, Patton, Era, and Paige were all making their way toward Virgil's hospital bed.

He and Logan exchanged glances. It was now or never. 

"Guys, I..." He faltered, scanning through the confused faces of his friends (and friends of friends in the case of Paige). His eyes fell on Era's. It was difficult to look others in the eye on occasion, but he had to force himself to do it in this case. Era deserved that much, and this news was more for her than for anyone else. "I saw Astrit. He's alive."


	31. Chapter 31

Virgil hadn't known what to expect after dropping such a bombshell. Perhaps this was why he was so surprised when Era went running out of the room immediately after Virgil's confession, Paige tearing off after her.   
  
Virgil spent the night in the hospital wing as he'd expected while he recovered from the aftereffects of whatever spell was cast on him. The healer in charge administered a Potion for Dreamless Sleep, the results of which provided Virgil with the best night sleep that he'd had in months.   
  
He needed it for what awaited him after his release from the Hospital Wing.  
  
He once more found himself the target of unwanted attention. The fact that he'd seen a boy who'd been missing for weeks when no one else had meant that he had a  _lot_  of questions waiting for him. First he was interviewed by the Headmistress, then an auror from the Ministry. There were whispers. Was Deceit involved? Was it someone else entirely? Had Virgil  _hallucinated_  the whole thing? Virgil found the last one the most insulting - He knew what he saw, and even on the off chance that it  _wasn't_  real, it was certainly worth looking into, wasn't it? It wasn't like the Ministry and school were getting very far in finding the boy beforehand.  
  
Virgil also hated how his  _brother's_  name kept getting brought up. It was funny in a twisted sort of way, that he still considered himself a member of the Dark Sides at the beginning of the school year.   
  
It also made Virgil feel nauseous. Where would he be without Patton (and later, the others)? Patton, Logan, Roman, Era..they all gave Virgil something to fight for, because  _like hell_  he was going to fight for himself. His friends, though, he would fight for his friends, people who actually liked him for  _himself_ , rather than some facade that he put on for the sake of fitting in.   
  
What if he still associated with the Dark Sides when these curses came to light? What if it was one of the Dark Sides who happened upon him making the prophecy rather than Patton? What if it gave Deceit  _further ideas_? What if Deceit enlisted Virgil's help? Would Virgil have had the courage to say no, without anyone to fight for?  
  
It was a haunting thought. It spread outward from his brain like a weed, wrapping its cold tendrils around Virgil's heart and taking his breath away.

 _"VIRGE!"_  
  
Virgil's hand shot toward his chest. If his heart wasn't racing before it certainly was now.  
  
 _"Hey Virge, how're you..."_  Patton trailed off, undoubtedly getting his first good look at Virgil after approaching him in the first place. Virgil's left hand was on his chest over his heart and his right hand had his hair in a vice grip.   
  
 _"Uh-oh, boggart got your brain?"_  This was such a silly yet  _apt_  way of describing what Virgil was going through that he let out a sound that could only be described as the love-child of a laugh and a choking noise.  
  
 _"You okay there, kiddo?"_  Patton asked, his tone more serious this time.  
  
"I..I could be better." Virgil admitted.  
  
 _"I'm sorry. Is there anything that I can do to help?"_    
  
Virgil shrugged. "I dunno. I mean..I just have a lot on my mind. Not that that's anything new."

Patton went silent for a moment or so.  _"You could try talking about it?"_  
  
Virgil chewed on his lip. Merlin, he did this so often he was surprised that his lips were constantly cracked and bleeding.   
  
"Ugh..I'm really not the best at talking, you know that Pat."  
  
Patton offered a shrug in response.  _"Doesn't mean that my ears aren't here to listen to whatever you have to say. In fact, my ears are still here even if you don't say anything at all!"_  He tapped at his ears as if to accentuate the point.

The corners of Virgil's mouth twitched upward the slightest bit in spite of himself.

"I just...there's a lot going on. Astrit, Era, Deceit, Shane..."  
  
 _"Shane?"_  
  
"He's, uh, that guy in my dorm..."  
  
 _"Oh! The one you...oh."_  
  
"Yuuuuup," Virgil drew out the word, letting the 'p' at the end pop for emphasis.  
  
 _"Virge, that wasn't your fault you know."_  
  
"I know, that's not the part that bugs me, Pat." Which wasn't one hundred percent the truth. He didn't blame himself for the cursing in itself, but he did blame himself for not noticing what was happening sooner. It took Storm's incessant meowing for him to even check up on Shane...  
  
As prone as Virgil was toward self blame, however, that wasn't the  _primary_  issue when it came to Shane.  
  
"I can't even look at his bed without feeling sick, Pat."  
  
 _"How do you sleep then? His bed is to the side of yours. Isn't it?"_  
  
"It is. I usually just sleep with my back to his bed, or if it gets really bad, I'll go out to the Common Room and sleep."  
  
 _"Virgil...have you told anyone about this? Maybe they can find a different place for you to sleep while this all blows over?"_  
  
Virgil shook his head. "Not like there's another Slytherin 5th year boys dorm they can toss me in. Besides, I've worked it out myself, haven't I? I just sleep out in the Common Room if it gets bad enough."

Patton looked as if he wanted to add something, but closed his mouth instead. He put his arm around Virgil's shoulder, something that caused Virgil to jolt at first, but then he eased into it.   
  
 _"Just know I'm here for you if you need me. We all are. We love you kiddo."_  
  
Virgil let out a snicker. "This is getting way too sappy for my liking."   
  
 _"Shut up, you know you love us too."_  Patton teased, giving Virgil's shoulder a squeeze before retrieving his arm.  _"Anyway, I said I'd meet Roman out at the lake. You're welcome to come if you want!"_  
  
Virgil shook his head. "Nah, I'll probably try to find Logan and see what he's up to."  
  
Patton grinned.  _"Awww, you two make such a cute couple!"_  
  
"We're not a couple!" Virgil protested. At least, Virgil didn't think they were. He wouldn't be against it if they were, but there was no way that Logan saw him as anything other than a good friend..right?  
  
 _"Suuuuuure you aren't,"_  Patton winked and made an 'ok' sign with his hands.

Virgil rolled his eyes, but the small grin on his face gave away that he was not as annoyed by this teasing as he pretended to be.  
  
The Slytherin set off for the library to look for Logan - or at least that was the original plan.  
  
 _"Virgil!"_  Virgil paused in mid stride, his gaze shifting in the direction he'd heard the voice from. Era Kastrati was walking toward him.  
  
"Era?"  
  
 _"I was hoping I'd catch you before you got too far from the Hospital Wing...I'm sorry for yesterday."_

"What?" _  
  
 _"That was rude, I shouldn't have run-"_  
  
_ Virgil couldn't help the snickers that tumbled forth from his lips. Era looked utterly bewildered. "I...you're apologizing for being rude when you just found out that someone saw your brother alive when he's been missing for weeks? Seriously? And I thought I was bad." _  
  
_Era rolled her eyes, but snickered a few times as well. __"I take it you understand why I did what I did, then."_  
  
_ Virgil let out a snort. "Been there, done that. Too much to deal with at once, so you run away just to clear your head or else you'll lash out. Fight or flight. Right?"  
  
This time Era managed a smile.  _ _"Sounds about right to me."_  _Her smile faltered, and Virgil let out a sigh, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his robes. _  
  
_ "Look, why don't I tell you what happened? One on one, so we don't have to worry about anyone else seeing your..." He was about to say 'reaction', but he paused when he felt something in his pocket. He pulled it out at once. A crumpled piece of paper?   
  
Virgil unraveled the sheet, familiar scrawl greeting him in return. The handwriting had the same features as the note Era received a couple of weeks prior, but there was one distinct difference - The message was in English this time.  
  
 _You won't be so lucky next time._


	32. Chapter 32

Virgil read the words over and over again, as if the foreboding message might yield some new meaning on the fifteenth read.

 _"Did you get a look at his face? What he was wearing?"_  
  
Virgil felt himself wince. Era's first questions, and Virgil was already unable to answer. "I didn't see him. Just Astrit. He cursed me before I could see him."  
  
Era tried to maintain a stoic expression, which was kind of her, but Virgil could tell that she was crestfallen.  
  
"I'm sorry, I do know that it was a man based on what Astrit said?" It wasn't much, but Virgil wanted to give her  _something_  to work with. Narrowing it down to roughly 50% of the population wasn't going to get her far though.

 _"We also know that he can write in Serbian, based on the note that I received. He can write in both English and Serbian."_  Era murmured.  
  
 _That_  was something they could work with.   
  
"What was he doing in the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts though?" That was the part that bothered him most. He expected dangerous creatures. He didn't expect dark wizards.  
  
 _"I'm not sure, but he's not there now."_

"Who's not there?"  
  
 _"Astrit and the mystery assailant both. They combed the Forbidden Forest for both of them last night. He must have fled and took Astrit with him."_  
  
"I'm sor-"  
  
 _"SHUT UP!"_  
  
Virgil's eyes flew wide. That much was expected. What Virgil didn't expect, however, was to see Era's eyes wide open as well as she threw a hand over her mouth.

In fact, when Era removed her hand from her mouth she looked almost sheepish?  _"I'm sorry, I just...ugh, I wish I could do something!"_  
  
It was slowly starting to dawn on Virgil that Era wasn't snapping at him, but rather the situation as a whole. He just happened to be the closest target.  
  
"Me too," he admitted.  
  
Era folded her arms across her chest.  _"Were you able to talk to my brother at all?"_  
  
Virgil nodded, relief pulsing through him as he realized that Era was starting to ask questions that he could actually answer. "Yeah...he kept telling me to leave. I told him that you've been worried sick about him."[/i]  
  
 _"Thanks. At least he knows he's not alone, that there are people who care about him and are fighting for him. Hopefully that'll give him enough hope to keep going until we get him back. He's a lot stronger than he looks, you know."_  
  
"So are you," Virgil blurted out before he could stop himself.   
  
A ghost of a smile appeared on Era's face.  _"Thanks for the compliment, but if you knew all that Astrit has been through, you'd realize that he's much more deserving of that praise than I am or ever will be."_

"He seems like a cool kid from what little I've seen of him. He...he didn't look that good when I saw him, though." Even as he spoke, Virgil wasn't sure if telling Era this was the right course or action. The fact that Era's initial response resulted in her closing her eyes and taking a deep breath didn't help matters. He should have just stayed quiet.  
  
 _"I'm sure that he didn't. Thank you for telling me Virgil, that just lets me know that I need to move even faster to save him."_  
  
Save him? "Era, you can't just go after this guy."  
  
 _"Of course I can. I have to. My brother is in danger!"_  
  
"I mean yeah, but..."  
  
 _"You can't tell me that if your brother were in danger you wouldn't..."_  Era trailed off.  _"Bad example."_  
  
Virgil let out a long exhale. "Considering my brother might have something to do with what happened to your brother...yeah, that's a pretty bad example. But I get where you're coming from. It's not that I don't want to help him, but we shouldn't just go running into it!"  
  
Era let out a strained laugh.  _"Go running into it? Of course not! I intend to come up with a plan fi-did you just say we?"_

He had, hadn't he? "Well yeah. You don't think I'm gonna make you do this whole thing alone, do you? Safety in numbers and all that jazz."  
  
 _"If there is safety in numbers you should probably count me among your ranks as well. And I am certain that once Patton and Roman catch wind of this they will wish to join as well. Especially Roman."_

Virgil and Era both turned at the sound of Logan's voice.  
  
"How long have you been there?" Virgil asked.  
  
 _"Long enough to have an idea of what the two of you were talking about, clearly."_  He pushed his glasses up against the bridge of his nose.

Era looked from Logan to Virgil.  _"We should tell him about the note."_

 _"The note?"_ Logan inquired.

Virgil nodded, retrieving the note once more from his pocket and handing it to Logan. Logan merely nodded, folding the paper neatly and handing it back to Virgil when he was done reading.  _"This changes little. It appears to be a threat, but it is a threat that can be inferred from the actions he took against Virgil in the Forbidden Forest. I suspect that whatever his goal may be, it is imperative that he keep Astrit alive. If he wanted to kill Astrit, he could have done so long before now. In addition, he did not kill Virgil despite having the opportunity to do so. This suggests that either he did not view Virgil as a formidable threat..or, more likely, he knew that he was in a position to take Virgil out without killing him. This all suggests that he has a specific goal or goals in mind."_

"That sounds about right Logan, but that doesn't tell us much other than what we're dealing with. What's our next course of action? We can't do much against this guy if we don't even know who he is," Virgil muttered.

 _"May I offer a suggestion? This is my rescue mission after all, the two of you just volunteered to join me,"_ Era remarked with the slightest of smirks.  _"We go back into the Forbidden Forest and look for evidence. It could be something as small as footprints or traces of magic left in the air from when he cursed Virgil, or something as big as the kidnapper leaving something behind when he fled. Either way..."_

_"That is a fantastic idea, Era."_

"Back to the Forbidden Forest?" Virgil tried to disguise the shakiness that threatened to seep into his voice as he spoke. He wasn't about to leave his friends behind, not when they were willfully walking into danger, but he didn't particularly fancy the idea of heading back into the Forbidden Forest after his last experience there.

 _"Don't worry Virgil, I don't plan on just storming into the forest,"_ Era informed him.

 _"Oh good, because I was about to raise my concerns as well,"_ Logan remarked.  _"As you appear eager to take command of this expedition, Era, I will stand aside and let you decide what our next course of action will be."_

_"First, we need the other two members of our party. Three, actually."_

"..three?" Two made sense, as they'd already discussed that Patton and Roman would want to get involved. Who was the third? 

_"Three. Patton, Roman, and Paige. I know Paige would be upset if I kept this from her, and I'm sure she'll want to join as well. So..our first mission is to gather our other recruits. I'll get Paige, while the two of you find Roman and Patton. Then the six of us will meet at the usual time and place."_

Era's instructions were concise enough to follow, at least. "The second abandoned classroom from the staircase on the fourth floor?" Hey, didn't hurt to double check. Era nodded.

From there, the three parted ways - Era to fetch Paige, and Virgil and Logan to fetch Roman and Patton. Then the real planning phase could begin.

 


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear these guys sit around talking and planning a lot (which is probably for the best on their part, lol). Hope you guys don't mind another chapter of that? XD They're good for character interactions at least! Hope you guys enjoy <3

It didn't take long for Virgil and Logan to find Roman and Patton. The couple were at the lake, just as Patton informed him they would be earlier. Virgil was glad that they hadn't moved from that spot yet, as it meant that they wouldn't have to search high and low just to find the two.  
  
Guilt still ate at him for not being able to do more to prevent Astrit's kidnapper from escaping with him again. This was an opportunity to make up for that, and he was eager to get that started (even if he was not so eager about entering the Forbidden Forest again).  
  
Roman, on the other hand, was absolutely ecstatic.  
  
_"Another trip to the Forbidden Forest! And this time we don't need to be accompanied by Professor Stoakes!"_  
  
Virgil shook his head. One would think that Roman would be a tad apprehensive as well given their last experience within the Forbidden Forest, but clearly the experience did not have the same effect on Roman as it did on Virgil. Then again, Roman never came face to face with Astrit, nor did he wind up  _cursed_  on the forest floor and waiting for rescue.  
  
No, Roman did the  _rescuing_. No wonder he was eager to repeat the experience.  
  
Logan opened the door to the abandoned classroom, the others filing in after him. Virgil brought up the rear and closed the door behind him once he saw that Era and Paige were already seated together at one of the tables within the room.

 _"Did we miss anything?"_  Roman asked the two girls as he sat down next to Patton.  
  
Paige shook her head.  _"We didn't get here very long before you did."_  
  
Era reached into her bag, pulling out and unfolding a piece of paper that Virgil recognized upon seeing the unfamiliar language written upon it as the note Era received. Her eyes met Virgil's and she gave him a firm nod, which Virgil took as a hint. He slipped his hand into his pocket and fetched the note he received, placing it in front of him as well.   
  
Era cleared her throat.  _"Two notes, presumably from Astrit's kidnapper. I received mine a couple of weeks ago and it was in Serbian. Virgil just found his in his pocket earlier today, and it's in English."_  
  
_"The handwriting is undoubtedly the same."_  Logan remarked, carefully observing both of the notes.  _"Virgil's note suggests that next time won't be so lucky...are we not playing into Astrit's captor's hand by ensuring that there will be a next time?"_  Logan inquired.  
  
_"Are you suggesting that I leave my brother to his fate? You may back out at any time if you feel this is too risky, but this is my brother and I will never back out,"_  Era leveled a glare at Logan.  
  
Logan hastily held up his hands in a defensive gesture.  _"I think you misunderstand. I am not suggesting that we leave your brother, as you mentioned. I am merely stating that Astrit's captor seemingly expects us to do just that."_  
  
"What do you suggest then, Logan?" Virgil began to subconsciously tap his fingers against the table he and Logan shared. Logan hastily reached out and lightly squeezed Virgil's hand.  
  
_"We plan for all possible outcomes that we can. We attempt to outsmart the kidnapper. Yes, he is undoubtedly an intelligent and skilled wizard, but there is only one of him. There are six of us. This places us at an advantage, not just in terms of cumulative brawn but in brain power as well. Though make no mistake, I believe that this man poses an incredible threat and we should not allow ourselves to grow overconfident simply because we have the numbers. There are ways to manipulate the situation in spite of numbers that may ensure a victory for our foe despite our best efforts."_

 _"...so you're saying we may try our best but still lose? That's not very morale-boosting! What sort of pep talk was that?"_  Roman protested.  
  
Logan blinked.  _"The sort of pep talk that was not a pep talk at all, but rather a statement of what I believe the facts are based on my observations."_  
  
_"...you are such a nerd, you know that?"_  
  
_"I will choose to take that as a compliment."_  
  
Virgil cast a glance back at Era. "Besides, we're not running in and attacking this guy wands blazing anyway, right? We don't even know where he is."  
  
Era nodded.  _"Virgil's right. We're not here to plan an attack, not yet anyway. We don't have enough information for that."_  
  
_"Then what do you suggest we do?"_  Patton asked.  
  
_"We were thinking of heading back to the Forbidden Forest to hunt for any clues. If we find any, which hopefully we do, we can go from there."_  Era responded, casting an uneasy look around the room.

 

_"Oooh, we get to do detective work!"_  Patton exclaimed.

"Yes, but it's still going to be dangerous. You guys saw what happened when Roman and I went into the Forbidden Forest, and we didn't even come across any of the supposed dangerous creatures that are supposed to be in there." Virgil shuddered. If it were solely up to Virgil, he wouldn't go back to the Forbidden Forest  _at all_. But he knew that his friends were eager to, and he wasn't about to leave them to that alone.

_"Don't we need to work out how we're all going to get into the Forbidden Forest in the first place? We don't wanna get caught by a professor before we even enter,"_  Paige pointed out.

_"Oops, sorry. Guess we didn't see the FOREST for the TREES."_  Patton grinned.

Logan ran a hand over his face at Patton's play on words.  _"That is the reason we are all gathered here in the first place. Even for something as simple as a reconnaissance mission into the Forbidden Forest, we must make a plan to minimize all potential risks. I will take notes so that we do not miss anything."_ Logan pulled a pen and paper out of his bag and set it in front of him as if to accentuate his point.

"If we're volunteering for positions, I'll be the guy who points out everything that can go  _wrong_." Virgil piped up, arms folded across his chest with a slight smirk.

_"But we're trying to do everything right.."_  Roman remarked.

"Exactly. And what's the best way to make sure that everything goes right? To plan for everything that we can think of that will go  _wrong_. And that's an area that I excel in.  _Your_  job can be figuring out how to sidestep any problems I think of. You're pretty good at crazy plans, aren't you?"

_"Excuse me, my plans are not-"_

_"He is the absolute best at it!"_  Patton looked at Roman with a proud smile.

Roman cleared his throat.  _"...crazy."_  He mumbled. Virgil snickered, both at Roman and Patton and the fact that he could see Logan hastily scribbling this down beside him.

Era and Paige looked at one another before Era looked determinedly at all of the others in the room, deliberately making eye contact with each one.  _"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to work."_


	34. Chapter 34

When Virgil first noticed a raven-haired girl in his vicinity as he was walking back from the 4th floor, he thought little of it. How many students did he pass during the course of the day? She didn't stand out.  
  
At least, she didn't stand out until he began to see her more and more often. Each time he would notice new details. She was a Gryffindor. She looked older than them, presumably a 6th or 7th year. She wore a prefects' badge.   
  
She was following them.  
  
Virgil was willing to pass off a few occasional run-ins as a coincidence, but this was more than just  _a few_. Virgil might not have been as good at sneaking as he thought he was when he was looking out for Astrit before his disappearance (both Astrit and Era made him painfully aware of this), but neither was this older girl.  
  
It wasn't until Virgil and Logan were in the library discussing the upcoming trip to the Forbidden Forest in hushed tones in their usual corner of the library and Virgil spotted what he was fairly certain were  _eyes_  peering out from between a bookshelf that Virgil decided that he'd had enough. He rose to his feet, marching over to the shelf. The girl clearly realized she was spotted, but Virgil was able to step in front of her escape route just in time. She had no choice but to interact with him if she wanted to get away.  
  
 _"Virgil, what are you...hmmm?"_  
  
"This girl has been spying on us. Why have you been spying on us?"  
  
The girl, despite being only slightly taller than them, shot them a haughty expression that reminded him of the Headmistress and suddenly made him feel a lot smaller.  
  
 _"Oh, you wonder why I've been following you. You talk of sneaking into the Forbidden Forest. How am I, as a prefect, not supposed to pay attention to that? Especially you, Logan. I'm shocked at you, a prefect yourself."_  
  
Logan looked discomforted. Virgil could hear his heartbeat in his ears, but a thought occurred to him. She'd been spying on them for the past few  _days_. She'd already made it clear that the reason she was spying on them had to do with their planned excursion into the Forbidden Forest.   
  
..but this was something that was discussed early on. There was a possibility that she hadn't known until now, but she'd given her  _specific reasoning_. That had to mean that she'd known for a while, and she'd kept it a  _secret_  despite being a prefect. "You could have turned us in long before now. Why haven't you?"   
  
Logan glanced upward at this, then looked at the Gryffindor girl.   
  
 _"Because I don't necessarily want to go to any staff members with this information. Not just yet at least."_    
  
The girl moved forward, taking advantage of Virgil and Logan's sudden surprise and brushing past them, heading for the exit of the library. Virgil and Logan just stared after her, making no effort to follow.  
  
 _"She knows..she knows and she's not going to tell anyone? Why?"_  Logan gaped.  
  
Virgil wondered the same thing.   
  
The girl still turned up every once in a while, though she never did attempt to enter the room that they all used - at least, not while they were inside of the room. Logan took extra care to make certain that they left nothing lying in the room when they were done with their meetings, and cast an Imperturbable Charm on the door. The latter was perhaps overkill, but they could never be too certain.  
  
One day, though, Patton had questions.  _"Why are we casting a charm in the door? It's not like anyone knows what we're discussing in here. We've been coming here for studying for years!"_  
  
Logan stashed his wand back into his pocket and shook his head.  _"There is one person who knows outside of this room what we are up to."_  
  
The room went quiet at this. At first Era looked pale, but then her eyes slowly narrowed.  _"For how long?"_  Logan blinked in confusion, but Era's resolve only grew.  _"How long have you known and not told the rest of us?"_  
  
"T-two days," Virgil muttered. Era's gaze shot toward him, and he immediately slunk down in his seat. He hadn't wanted to worry the others, but it looked as though this was going to upset them  _more_.   
  
 _"This could pose an extreme danger to our entire mission! And if we can't find Astrit.."_  Era's glare faltered, her lip quivering. Paige proceeded to wrap her arms around her upset friend, glaring at Logan and Virgil in her place.  
  
 _"Who is this other person? Do they pose a danger to us?"_  Roman asked.  
  
Logan shook his head.  _"I'm not certain. She appears to have known for a while, but has not informed anyone else despite being in a position to do so. She, too, is a prefect."_  He cast a guilty look at Era.  _"I would hazard a guess that she is a 6th or 7th year, with raven hair, and she belongs to Gryffindor House."_  
  
Era gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Paige's eyes were also wide. The other four glanced at the two girls in confusion.  
  
 _"Are you two alright?"_  Patton leaned forward concernedly.   
  
 _"I presume you know the identity of the girl I speak of?"_  
  
Era nodded, taking a deep breath. She exchanged glances with Paige before nodding. It was almost as if they were communicating something silently between the two of them.   
  
 _"She's Astrit's sister. One of his other sisters, I should say. On his mother's side."_ Paige explained at last.  
  
Now it was their turn to gasp. Astrit's  _sister_? No wonder she was so invested. No wonder she hadn't told anyone.   
  
 _"Why wouldn't she just tell us that? We would understand her interest. We would get it. Why the secrecy?"_  
  
 _"You're one to talk,"_  Era snapped, but she had a wry sort of grin on her face.   
  
Logan huffed and straightened his tie.  _"Yes, well."_

 _"I have to admit that I'm curious too,"_ Roman added.  
  
 _"She and Astrit aren't particularly close. They were, when they were younger. But she was under the impression that he was dead until a year ago. Their relationship is strained, but I do believe that she does still care for him in her own way."_  
  
Well  _that_  was a bombshell..though it did explain why none of the others knew that Astrit even had another sister. Or... "Sisters? You said sisters, with an s, like there were more than one."  
  
Era nodded.  _"There are. Snježana and Melanija Knežević. The one you met was Snježana."_  
  
 _"Why..why would she think they were dead, and why wouldn't they be close after that?"_  Patton held a hand to his mouth.  _"I can't imagine thinking that someone I love and care about is dead only to find out that they're still alive! I would hug them and cuddle them and never let them go again!"_  
  
Virgil bit back the urge to remind Patton that not  _all_  siblings were like that, not  _all_  families were happy - and that even Era and Astrit, whose relationship he'd been jealous of not long before, had far more complicated lives than he first thought.  
  
 _"Astrit is..different than the child that they knew him as. I do not wish to divulge the details, it is not my place to do so, but their father knew what he was doing, and if he found out that Snježana and Astrit were reunited once more I don't even want to think about what he would do. He absolutely hated Astrit,and wanted his daughters to have nothing to do with him."_  Era closed her eyes and shivered.

Virgil slipped his hand into his pocket, turning the worry stone within over and over again in his hand. He was ever grateful for this gift from Logan, and turned to Logan with a smile - a smile that fell abruptly when he saw Logan's face caught up in a look of intense concentration. Virgil could swear he saw the moment when Lumos went off in his brain, and Logan was quick to slap the desk afterward.  " _Knežević. It's a Croatian, Serbian and Montenegrin surname, if I recall correctly."_  
  
Era nodded.  _"Yes, the Kneževićs I speak of are Serbian. What of it?"_  
  
 _"Our suspect writes in both English and Serbian."_  
  
Era stared puzzled at Logan for a few seconds before comprehension dawned on her features. The same expression that Virgil knew was on his own face, as well as presumably the faces of Patton, Roman, and Paige.   
  
 _"This man..may very well have something to do with Astrit's disappearance, if he is not the captor himself. Not only does he fit the profile, but he has a credible motive,"_  Logan said, voicing the conclusion that they'd all reached.  
  
And here they thought that they would find no other leads until they ventured back into the Forbidden Forest.


	35. Chapter 35

Now that they had theories as to who might be responsible for Astrit's disappearance, it seemed more important than ever to venture back into the Forbidden Forest for the clues that they were looking for. It was decided that once they entered the forest they would split off in groups of two. Virgil and Logan comprised one group, Roman and Patton another, and Era and Paige the final group.   
  
If any of them encountered trouble that they needed to alert the others to, they would send up red sparks over the spot.

They converged on the Hogwarts grounds in the evening, reviewing the plan one last time.   
  
_"Why hello again, long time no see."_  
  
He knew that voice. Astrit's sister.  
  
_"Why are you all looking at me like that? Don't let me stop you,"_  she remarked, one corner of her mouth turning upward into a lopsided grin.  
  
_"We are sneaking into the Forbidden Forest and have just been approached by a prefect! How are we supposed to react?"_  Roman protested.  _"My club positions are at stake here!"_    
  
Snježana let out a laugh.  _"Firstly, if you're worried about the mere presence of prefects, why do you have a prefect among your group?"_  She gestured to Logan.  _"Secondly, and this is just a piece of advice for the future - if you don't want to get in trouble for breaking school rules, you might not want to outright confess what you are doing at the first sign of confrontation."_

Patton shuffled where he stood, looking downward.  _"Are we in trouble?"_  Virgil wasn't surprised that Patton was nervous at the aspect of getting in trouble. Patton wasn't a troublemaker, and the only other time he'd gotten in trouble was when he hexed Deceit - and that was just a stern talking to, and a promise not to do something like that again. This was deliberately sneaking into an area of the school they shouldn't be sneaking into by school rules.  
  
Snježana shook her head.  _"No. I thought I already made it clear that I could have told on you already if I planned on telling someone? I want to be a lookout. I'd volunteer to go in myself, but I already know that you don't think that you will find Zo-Astrit in there, and I want you to be able to find what you can about his whereabouts. That said, if you do plan at any point to find him and rescue him..I would like to take part."_    
  
_"You have a deal,"_  Era held out her hand for the other girl to shake. Snježana met Era's hand with her own.  
  
Then the six younger teenagers ventured into the forest.

_"Why would she make that deal? If Snježana's father is indeed the one responsible, this might jeopardize Astrit's safety when and if the time comes. Snježana clearly cares for Astrit, but who does she carry a stronger loyalty toward - her brother or her father?"_ Logan remarked as he walked beside Virgil.  
  
Virgil remained silent, though he agreed with Logan about the risks. It was Era's mission in the end though, and Era's brother...she had the right to the last decision. And she had to have a reason for doing what she did, even if it was just to ensure that they had a lookout for this mission.

_"They're both his sisters...maybe it has something to do with that?"_  Patton piped up beside them.  _"They both love him because they're his sisters, so they agreed to work together for him!"_  
  
Soon, Virgil and Logan took one direction within the forest and Patton and Roman took another. Virgil made certain to keep as close to Logan as he possibly could. Logan, to his credit, understood Virgil's motives for doing so. He didn't want a repeat of what happened with Roman and the professor last time he was in the forest.   
  
_"Virgil, are you alright?"_  Logan asked softly. Virgil looked at Logan in confusion, until he glanced down at his wand arm and saw the intense shaking of his wand, magnifying the shaking of his hand.  
  
"I..." He swallowed. "...yeah, I can do this. Let's keep going." It was difficult the deeper they got within the forest, each noise making him jolt or freeze, but he and Logan pressed on.   
  
_"Do you recall any notable features about the areas of the forest that you were in when you saw Astrit?"_  
  
"There were a lot of shorter trees, Astrit was hiding behind one when I found him."  
  
_"A younger area of the forest, then,"_  Logan mused.  _"We can work with that."_

Once they reached an area matching the description that Virgil gave, they began their search.  
  
_"I must say, this is quite exciting. Like a nonfiction version of Sherlock Holmes!"_ Logan remarked, unable to keep the sheer excitement out of his tone. Virgil couldn't help but grin in response.  
  
"That Muggle detective from books? Princey's right, you really are a nerd, Logan," he jested, hoping to see a hint of amusement when he looked back at Logan, but instead the Ravenclaw was looking downward.  
  
Oh no, he hadn't...had he upset Logan with that comment? "Logan, I didn't mean...I was teasing..." Virgil's hasty attempt to explain himself was cut short by Logan holding up a hand. He didn't even look at Virgil.  
  
Merlin, he'd really screwed up, hadn't he? "I guess I'll try to find one of the others then..." He stuffed his hands into his pockets.  
  
_"Why would you do that?"_  
  
"I figured you wouldn't want to be around me right now after I insulted you?" He'd screwed up so badly, he should have known Logan wouldn't take it like Roman...  
  
_"Insult...Virgil, is this about you calling me a nerd? I assure you, I'm not insulted."_  
  
"Yeah, I...wait, what?"  
  
Logan held a hand to his mouth as he chuckled.  _"Oh dear. I believe I misled you. You believed that I was upset at what you said. I was merely observing the carvings in this tree."_  
  
On the bright side? Logan wasn't mad at him! On the other hand? Logan probably thought he was an idiot. Virgil wasn't sure which was worse, honestly. His best bet? Trying to change the subject.

"Did you say there were carvings in the tree?"  
  
_"Yes, right here. They seem to be in the shape of an arrow pointing downward, and appear to have been made recently."_  
  
"How can you tell?" Virgil asked, crouching down so that he could get a better look at the carving.  
  
_"There are still shavings from the trunk on the ground."_  Logan pointed out the shavings in question.  
  
Huh, that made sense.   
  
"What do down arrows mean though? And who made the carvings? Astrit or his captor?"  
  
Logan stroked his chin, deep in thought.  _"It may be either of them, or neither of them. The shaping does make it seem deliberate, but Astrit, his captor, and the six of us are hardly the only ones who have entered the forest. The Care of Magical Creatures professor comes out here on occasion for example, as well as the groundskeeper."_  
  
So the carvings might be a hint or they might be nothing whatsoever. How incredibly helpful.  
  
_"I suggest we look on the ground for any more hints. I could do that while you observe the rest of our surroundings and see if you spot anything of note?"_  
  
"On it," Virgil responded, eyes scanning the area. This was a good position to assign him, as not only could he look for more clues but he could keep an eye out for danger.   
  
He spotted little else in the way of threats (fortunately) or hints (unfortunately).  
  
_"There is nothing of note on the ground as far as I can see, no footsteps or artifacts of any sort,"_ Logan reported.  
  
Virgil sighed. "We could check that other tree over there? It has an arrow on it too. Other than that, I don't really see anything." He wondered how the others were doing as he and Logan made their way to the base of the other tree. Logan ran his hand along the carving, as if he could glean extra information from the mere act of touching it.  
  
At that moment, a scream tore through the forest. Virgil whirled around at once. Logan immediately rose to his feet, hitting his head against a low-lying branch.   
  
_"What on Earth was that?"_  The Ravenclaw wondered out loud, rubbing the top of his head   
  
There was another scream, and Virgil's hand immediately tightened around his wand. "That's Patton. Let's go." He and Logan set off in search of Patton and Roman, all the while hoping that the two weren't in too much danger. It certainly did worry him that they were only hearing Patton's screams...


	36. Chapter 36

Virgil and Logan ran in the direction of Patton's screams. It hadn't sounded as though he was far from where Virgil and Patton were initially, which hopefully meant they'd come across Patton soon. But what about Roman? Why were they not hearing anything from him? Was he hurt?

_"Patton? Are you alright?"_  Virgil turned at the sound of Logan's voice. There stood Patton with his arm hanging limply by his side as he stared straight ahead in horror.  
  
Virgil followed Patton's gaze and flinched at what he saw there. It made the boggart that Patton faced look like a baby.   
  
 _"More treats. Don't you two look delectable,"_  the humongous arachnid remarked, clicking its pincers together in excitement.  
  
 _"Stupefy!"_  came another voice. The spell hit the acromantula, though it became painfully clear that it did little to effect the creature.  _"Be gone you foul beast! Confundo!"_  Roman aimed another spell at the spider. Virgil and Logan took this as their cue to join in.  
  
 _"Incendio!"_  Virgil cried out, focusing on the consequences if they did not succeed in chasing off and/or defeating this acromantula.  
  
 _"Diffindo! Diffindo! Diffindo!"_  A great yell erupted from the creature. Virgil soon saw why. With each incantation, slashes appeared across the acromantula's eyes.  
  
The slashing charm, aimed at each of the acromatula's beady eyes, effectively blinding it. Logan was a  _genius_. "Diffindo! Diffindo!" Virgil added his efforts. Roman tackled another two, and Patton, once he realized what was going on and realized that the spider would pose little threat if it could not see where it was going, managed a slashing charm of his own. Through their combined teamwork, all eight eyes were effectively taken out of commission, at least temporarily. Once they had the acromantula both distracted and blinded, Virgil seized Logan by the arm. "RUN!" he called out, hoping that Roman and Patton would follow. The sound of rustling behind him seemed to suggest that this was indeed the case. He didn't dare look back. They needed to get out of the area before the acromantula regained its composure. If they were close enough when it did so, there was a chance that it could still pursue them by listening to the sounds their footsteps made against the forest floor as they fled.

After running for a few moments, Virgil and Logan finally paused to catch their breath. Virgil groaned as a series of coughs wracked his figure. He wasn't used to so much physical activity. Logan looked even worse off. He listened closely for any suspicious noises that might indicate that the four of them weren't alone.

  
Roman, too, was out of breath, though Virgil could easily see why. He'd been carrying twice the amount of weight that Virgil and Logan were. "...Princey did you just run away from the acromantula carrying Patton  _bridal style_?" Virgil looked at the two incredulously.  
  
 _"What if I did?"_  Roman sounded proud of himself, and leaned down to give Patton a quick peck on the lips before setting his boyfriend back on his feet.  
  
 _"That was so scary...Logan that was a great idea with the slashing charm!"_  Patton beamed.  
  
 _"It became clear to me, from observing Roman's and Virgil's attacks against the creature, that actively bringing the acromantula down was not the most effective solution. Its eyes appeared to be one of it's most vulnerable parts, and thus I determined that we only need blind the creature long enough for us to escape its clutches successfully,"_  Logan explained.  
  
 _"I did a good job too,"_  Roman frowned, looking almost as if he was pouting. Patton put his arms around the Gryffindor and smiled.  _"Awww of course you did. You're my knight in shining armor!"_ Patton planted another kiss on Roman's cheek, and Roman appeared to brighten considerably.

"I've had enough of this forest for one day. Let's  _go_ ," Virgil urged the others. If the other three were just going to stand around shooting the breeze? They could easily accomplish that somewhere that  _was not so dangerous._

_"We still need Era and Paige, don't we? What if they're in trouble?"_  Patton helpfully pointed out.  
  
Virgil felt a bit bad for that. He was so caught up in getting out of this...hellscape that he'd nearly forgotten that two members of their party were still off searching. Hopefully they had not encountered trouble, but given that Virgil's record of trouble upon entering the Forbidden Forest was two for two? He didn't plan on coming here  _ever again_  unless he absolutely had to.  
  
Of course, with his luck that meant he'd probably have five more encounters within the Forbidden Forest before the year let out.

_"First we find Era and Paige, then we get out of here,"_  Logan amended.  
  
Virgil nodded. The four began to walk, Roman opting to disrupt the peace and quiet (as he often did) with another conversation point.  _"Alas, Patton and I found little of use to our investigation. What about the two of you?"_  
  
"We found a couple of arrows carved into trees. They were carved pretty recently according to Logan, so we're thinking maybe Astrit carved them?"  
  
 _"It is certainly a possibility,"_  Logan chimed in,  _"though it is also possible that the one responsible may not be Astrit after all, given the wide and varied population of creatures and beings that call the forest home."_  
  
...and people got on  _Virgil_  for being blunt and pointing out unwanted truths. They'd apparently never met Logan.  
  
 _"Still, it's something to work with!"_  Patton smiled.   
  
 _"Patton, is that you?"_  That was Paige's voice. Virgil did a quick glance around, spotting Era and Paige on the other side of a thicket of trees. The four young men made their way over to the two young women.   
  
 _"Watch where you step,"_  Era held out her hand as she warned the others. Virgil, Logan, and Patton were paying enough attention that they stopped in time. Roman, on the other hand, nearly stepped on uneven ground and lost his balance. Fortunately he was able to regain his footing and brushed off his robes dramatically, even though he hadn't gotten any dirt on them as far as Virgil could tell.  
  
Virgil would have rolled his eyes had something else not caught his attention. What Roman nearly stepped on was not uneven ground at all, at least not in the traditional sense, but rather an elaborate  _staircase_  made of grass and earth leading beneath the Forbidden Forest.  
  
Virgil had the sinking feeling that they wouldn't be leaving the Forbidden Forest just yet.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will warn you, things take a dark turn in this chapter. Trigger warning for severe injury resulting in broken bones and unconsciousness, mind control..I'm not sure if I need any other trigger warnings, but let me know if there's anything else I can add, cause like I said, things take a dark turn here. I also hope that this didn't come across as too rushed?

Virgil gaped at the downward leading staircase. He'd never seen anything like it. It had to be magical, but...why? Who (or what) made it?  
  
_"Looks like we're not_  out of the woods  _yet!"_  Patton remarked in a blatant attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

 _"Well, you know what they say when an unknown staircase appears in the middle of a forest - It's time to explore it!"_  Roman declared, withdrawing his wand from his pocket and striding toward the staircase with purpose.  
  
_"Literally no one has said that other than yourself, Roman,"_  Logan shook his head.  _"Is it really wise to go exploring when..."_  
  
"He's going already," Virgil pointed out with a sigh, massaging his temples. Era, Paige, and Patton were quick to follow behind the Gryffindor.  
  
_"Of course he is. I suppose we ought to follow him to make sure that he doesn't get himself killed,"_  Logan muttered.   
  
Virgil reluctantly began to descend the staircase with Logan. "Lumos," he uttered, raising his wand at the same time that Logan did. The spell didn't help much - They could see where they were going, but just barely, and the entire staircase was cramped to the point where Virgil began to wonder if he was feeling so short of breath because of the lack of personal space, or whether there was only a finite amount of air and the six of them were using it all up.  
  
Needless to say, thoughts like  _that_  didn't make the descent any easier for Virgil. He also couldn't help but feel that they'd been walking for a  _long time_..just how far did this staircase descend beneath the Forbidden Forest, anyway?   
  
A sudden scream pierced through the darkness, followed by several loud bangs.  
  
_"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"_  a loud yell followed the first scream.  
  
Virgil's chest hurt. He longed to run back toward the surface, and was half tempted to grab his friends and race back as fast as he could. But..what if those screams  _belonged_  to his friends? The only one that he was certain was safe was Logan, who remained beside him. As Virgil had no watch, he had no way of telling just how much time passed between the screams and their finally reaching the bottom, but Virgil would hazard a guess that at least a few more agonizingly long moments passed before they caught their first glimpse of what happened.  
  
_"I tried to catch him..I tried to catch him, but then I ended up falling with him, and...and..."_ Roman was seated on the ground, both of his legs bent in an unnatural position. This was nothing compared to Patton, however, who laying unconscious a few feet away from him.   
  
Logan immediately raced forth, placing a hand at Patton's neck.  _"He still has a pulse,"_  Logan murmured, his voice trembling as he spoke.   
  
Virgil felt nauseous. "We need...we need.." He wanted to tell his friends that they needed to return to the surface for help, but it was as if an invisible hand closed around his throat, making it impossible for him to speak. Hell, he could barely  _breathe_.   
  
Era and Paige pressed on, however.   
  
Virgil knew that they had no choice but to follow. Roman made to follow as well, but Logan immediately crouched down, holding Roman's shoulder.  _"It would be advisable for you to stay here."_  
  
_"But...what if something happens? I want to be able to protect my friends! A valiant knight does not let a small injury stop him!"_  Roman protested.  
  
_"This is not a small injury! Your legs look as if neither of them will properly bear weight. This does not diminish your position as a knight in any way. You can keep watch over Patton and make sure that no further harm befalls him."_  Logan cast a glance in Patton's direction. The squeezing sensation in Virgil's chest grew.  
  
Roman finally acquiesced. He crept closer to his boyfriend, running a hand through his hair.  _"I assure you that you will make it out of here alive Patton, if it is the last thing I do,"_  Virgil heard Roman telling Patton as the remaining four continued into the cavern that lay in wait for them.

 _"Does anyone else see that light off to the side there?"_  Paige whispered, making a gesture to a side chamber in the cave that the others could barely see in their faint wand light.  
  
_"I suppose while we are down here it would behoove us to search everywhere that we can,"_  Logan observed.  _"Though I should note that it is looking increasingly likely that we may encounter danger, so we should be at the ready."_  
  
The four continued on their path. At one point, a whoosh went through the cave, and the light went out in their wands all at once. A thump punctured the silence. There was a scramble of movement, and three wands lit up almost at once.  
  
Three, because the fourth wand was in Paige's arm, and she was currently lying unconscious on the ground. Era's hand flew to her mouth.  _"Paige!"_  she hissed, dashing forth out of clear concern for her friend.   
  
_"We don't know who or what did this to her, Era. It is clear that she is still alive, however - If you look closely, you can see her chest rise and fall in a regular rhythm. She is not deceased, merely unconscious. I realize that this does not necessarily help, as she is one of your closest friends, but.."_  
  
_"Era?"_  
  
Era whirled around at once upon hearing her name. It was uttered by a voice they all knew, yet never expected to hear down here of all places.  
  
_"Astrit?"_  Era's eyes widened. Astrit stepped out from the shadows. Era immediately threw her arms around her brother at once, crying unabashedly.  _"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I should have been here for you sooner..."_  
  
_"Era..."_  Logan's voice interrupted Era's reverie.  
  
_"What is it, Logan? Oh Astrit, we're going to take you back to the castle and get you back in warmer clothes with a nice meal and a nice warm bed..how does that sound..."_  
  
_"Era,"_  Logan's voice was sterner this time.  
  
_"What?"_  Era snapped.  
  
_"I don't want to go back,"_  Astrit muttered.  
  
Era turned to look at her brother in shock.  _"..what was that?"_  
  
_"I don't want to go back,"_  Astrit repeated, pulling away from Era at once.  
  
_"What are you talking about Astrit, you were kidnapped, of course you want to go back..."_  Era stared at her brother, horror slowly creeping its way across her features.  
  
Astrit shook his head.  _"I don't. I am needed for the master plan...I must stay down here. It is of utmost importance,"_  Astrit explained, his voice not wavering or differing in the slightest. Monotonous.  
  
_"That's not Astrit,"_  Logan said at last.  
  
His eyes were glazed over, almost as if he was unseeing. Almost as if he was an empty shell..a  _puppet_.  
  
_"He's under the Imperius Curse,"_  Era said at last, new tears shimmering at the corners of her eyes. The man that captured her brother must have decided that he'd gotten too close to escaping before, and thus found a way to ensure that Astrit would stay where he belonged..or perhaps this was the state he'd been in all along, and he'd managed to break free for that short period of time? Either way, despite the presence of his sister, the spell's hold over Astrit didn't appear to be wavering in the slightest.  
  
_"You are interfering with the plan. For that reason, you must be eliminated,"_  Astrit immediately retrieved his wand, brandishing it toward his own sister.   
  
Logan narrowed his eyes.  _"We know that Astrit is not in control, but whoever is speaking through Astrit, using Astrit to fight against us...did you forget that it is three against one?"_  
  
Astrit turned to face Logan, his dead gaze settling on the Ravenclaw.  _"Era does not wish to attack her brother. She loves him dearly."_  
  
Logan narrowed his eyes.  _"Of course she does. But she will not be facing this challenge alone. She also has myself and..."_  
  
_"And what if you, too, are faced with attacking someone you love dearly?"_  The metaphorical strings controlling Astrit twisted his mouth into a sick, wide grin.   
  
Logan heard the telltale sound of movement behind him, and slowly turned to face Virgil. Virgil, with his wand aimed directly at Logan, a determined look on his face, and the same blank look in his eyes as Astrit


	38. Chapter 38

Virgil's eyes met Logan's. They were dull and lifeless, similar to Astrit's. His gaze was unbreaking save for the occasional slow blink, something that set off alarm bells within Logan's mind. Virgil grew tense under prolonged eye contact, yet Virgil's wand was as steady as ever.

  
This...this wasn't...

_"Expelliarmus!"_  Logan was able to deflect Virgil's spell with relative ease. 

_"Stupefy!"_  He heard Astrit's voice behind him, followed by a gasp...but no thump. Era deflect the spell directed toward her too, then...but what was the gasp?

It took another gasp for Logan to realize that what he was hearing was not gasping but rather  _sobbing_.

"I wonder how long it will take to break you," Virgil was saying. "Impedimenta!"

_"Protego!"_  Logan shielded himself.  _"I should expect that you will find it difficult to break me."_

Virgil tilted his head slightly to the left. "Oh? Is that a dare?"

 

_"No, not a dare. Simply a statement of fact,"_ Logan said.  __  
  
_"Tarantellegra!"_

_"Protego!"_

__He could still hear Era and Astrit behind him. He did not dare turn around though, not with Virgil's wand still pointed in his direction.

"Crucio!" _  
_  
Logan was so surprised to hear the Unforgiveable Curse out of his friend's mouth that he nearly missed a beat - and therefore nearly missed his opportunity to block the curse. _"Protego!"_

There was a leering grin on Virgil's face now. He'd seen Logan's hesitation. Logan knew it.

 

"You say you will not be swayed by sentimentalities..."

Logan gripped his wand tighter.  _"I will not."_

Virgil smiled. It was not the leering grin from before but a calm, almost  _kind_  smile. It wasn't, though, not with the dangerous eyes that accompanied the expression. "Oh? Then why do you refuse to attack your friend? All that you have done is reflect and shield yourself from the spells I have sent your way. It is almost as if you are put off at the thought of dueling your friend! Ah, but he is not your friend, is he?"

 

Logan blinked in surprise.  _"He is my friend, though."_

"Perhaps now he is, but you would like more from him, wouldn't you? Perhaps to be a lover?"

The slight reddening of Logan's cheeks was as good as a confession.

"Expelliarmus!" This time, Logan was not fast enough to defend himself, and he had to watch in horror as his wand soared out of his grasp and into Virgil's outstretched hand. Virgil turned it over in his hand. "Lovely wand you have here."

 

Era screamed behind him and Logan tensed. Virgil smirked. "Not so cocky now without your wand, are you? Doesn't sound like Era is doing so well against her brother either."

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something...wasn't right. Virgil opened his mouth to protest, but nothing would come out. It was as if the muscles within his throat were paralyzed. There was a thump, followed by three wands lighting up.

Three? That didn't make sense. Virgil didn't cast Lumos a second time.

Paige was on the ground. Era was scared, Logan was trying to reassure her, Virgil  _couldn't move, why couldn't he move_...

Astrit arrived. Virgil, too, saw that something  _wasn't right_  about Astrit from the moment the younger boy greeted his sister. It was as if he'd been administered a dementor's kiss. This was not the boy that Virgil met in the forest a few days before; this was his empty shell.

No matter how hard Virgil tried, he still  _could not talk_. Logan, thank Merlin, had the presence of mind to tell Era that something was wrong with her brother. Virgil could not have predicted what happened next. Astrit's words made Virgil's blood run cold. Master plan? Astrit raised his wand against his sister, a haunting sight on its own. Logan assured Astrit (or whoever was controlling Astrit) that Era would not be alone against her brother, that it would be three against one. Virgil tried to force words from his mouth, to warn Logan that he couldn't be much help, he felt  _frozen solid_ , why was his body not cooperating?

Astrit's next words sent a chill running down Virgil's spine. A chill that he soon recognized for what it was..the alien sensation of his wand arm lifting of its own accord. Logan turned to face Virgil, and Virgil could only imagine that sight that greeted Logan. 

He was utterly  _petrified_ , yet his wand arm and wand itself remained steady. He wasn't in control. He wasn't in control, hewasn'tincontrolhewasutterlytrappedHELPHELP.

Then his  _mouth_  opened of its own accord and the incantation for the disarming charm fell out effortlessly.

He was dueling Logan. Logan was a good dueler, better than Virgil, he could beat Virgil, he could do this..but did it count as Virgil when Virgil was not even in control of his own actions? Was Astrit going through something similar? Could  _he_ , too, see everything that was happening, helpless to stop it? 

Logan wasn't casting any hexes, jinxes, or curses at him. He kept defending himself. Then, he stepped forward. Virgil caught glimpse of what was happening in a mirror in his peripheral vision. He stepped forward in one fluid motion and cast the Cruciatus Charm toward one of his best friends.

No..Logan was more than that.

Logan was able to avoid the curse. Virgil let out a mental sigh of relief (what other option did he have at this point in time?).

The...whatever or  _whoever_  was controlling him (getoutGETOUT) chose this moment to taunt Logan. Virgil wanted to yell at Logan, to warn him not to listen to this  _monster_  using his mouth...

Virgil was simultaneously flattered and horrified at the realization that Logan was holding back because of him. Flattered because Logan clearly  _cared_ , horrified because it didn't  _matter_  that Logan cared, his holding back put himself in danger, and Virgil would rather he go all out if he had the chance to save himself.

Then he taunted Logan with the ridiculous idea of Virgil and Logan as lovers. And Logan's face turned red.

Logan..there was no way...yet he was seeing it with his own eyes...

Then, the very thing Virgil did not wish to see. Whatever force was controlling his body used the opportunity to disarm Logan. Virgil now held Logan's wand within his hand. Era screamed. Logan was defenseless. Era sounded as though she was in trouble as well.

 

"Incarcerous!" Ropes erupted from the end of Virgil's wand. Though Logan tried to escape, he was nevertheless bound. 

_"Incarcerous!"_  Astrit echoed, binding Era, who did little to put up a fight. Virgil never saw Era look so defeated.

Then he turned, the corners of his mouth drawn upward beyond his control. "Come, Astrit. The preparations are almost complete." The two strode toward a cauldron in the middle of the room.


	39. Chapter 39

"Come with me, Astrit," Virgil heard himself repeat, a twinge of impatience in his voice.  
  
Astrit, who was still standing over his sister, seemed to falter for a moment before doing as Virgil instructed.  
  
Virgil wanted to scream for help. He wished he'd learned wordless magic, but of course that was  _NEWT_  level, and he hadn't even taken his OWLs yet.   
  
With Era and Logan bound and Paige, Roman, and Patton otherwise incapacitated? There was nothing to stand in the way of whatever 'master plan' was in the works.

The cauldron that Virgil stood over contained a murky brown liquid. Virgil felt his free hand reached out and give the bubbling liquid a few stirs. Virgil then turned to Astrit with a smile.  
  
"You did a wonderful job warming up the potion for me, Astrit. You will be rewarded for this."  
  
Astrit beamed, something that made Virgil - the  _real_  Virgil, not the imposter controlling him like a marionette - want to vomit. This was especially discomforting if Astrit was in a similar state to his own, painfully aware of everything that was happening but helpless to stop it.   
  
He could hear Logan whispering something and he whipped around. Logan and Era met his gaze. Era's eyes were red with tears, Logan...Logan still wore a look of determination, despite everything that happened. Were he able to, he would have chuckled. Leave it to Logan to remain frustratingly stubborn even in the face of defeat.  
  
"Why are you lying to Era? Making her feel as though the two of you actually have a chance to stop what is happening in  _your_  position. It is entertaining though, I will give you that." Virgil was delighted to hear irritation seep through his tone, despite what the speaker tried to claim otherwise.  
  
Judging by Logan's smirk, he noticed it too.  _"I thought you warned me not to be so cocky. Perhaps you should take your own advice?"_  
  
Virgil felt his eyes roll. Logan was just taunting the wizard that controlled him and Virgil realized this, but Virgil seized what little amusement he could find in such a bleak circumstance and clung on to it like a lifeline.   
  
_"I believe that the potion is ready, sir,"_  Astrit's voice called out. Virgil turned around and strode back up to the cauldron.  
  
"Ah yes, good. It will be nice to have my old body back, though this one certainly had its charms. I will admit that the fact that this boy possesses the Sight proved quite useful to me at times, though it remains quite comical that despite all of the efforts they put in toward trying to decipher them, they failed to realize what the prophecy was warning them about. The liar was simply a means to an end." Virgil screamed within the prison that his mind became at the behest of this dark wizard who had clearly  _possessed him_.  
  
...and it wasn't a new development by the sound of it. There was no way that this wizard could know that Virgil was a Seer, or the prophecies that he made, unless the wizard was present for them. The most recent prophecy he'd made was two weeks prior - before Virgil even encountered Astrit in the Forbidden Forest.  
  
Certain oddities began to make sense. Astrit's bizarre behavior around him before his disappearance. The dark thoughts that plagued him, more than usual. He'd always had intrusive thoughts, yes, but never at the frequency or severity that he experienced them in the prior couple of months.  
  
Virgil didn't know if the wizard knew that he was  _aware_  of what was happening, but it did not matter when Virgil remained helpless to stop it in any way.  
  
...where did Astrit factor into all of this, however?  
  
"Come forth, Astrit. I am pleased with your work, and thus I will reward you." He held Astrit's arm and uttered an incantation Virgil never heard before. Astrit's arm was bathed in a light blue glow for a moment. Virgil reached to the side, grabbing a dagger. "I was going to do this without numbing you before, because what does it  _matter_? But your potion work pleases me greatly." Virgil dragged the dagger along the inside of Astrit's arm, carving into the boy's skin from his elbow down to his wrist. Indeed, the boy appeared to feel nothing, and barely reacted even when Virgil jerked Astrit forward and held his arm over the potion, letting his blood fall into the potion.  
  
Era was screaming at the top of her lungs, struggling against the ropes binding her.  _"Astrit! ASTRIT! Let him go you monster!"_  Though she sounded frantic when screaming her brother's name, her tone shifted to a snarl. Were Virgil able to, he would have winced at the chuckle erupting from his own throat.  
  
"Awww, but why? He's clearly enjoying it." Indeed, Astrit had an almost serene smile on his face. Whether it was from the effects of the Imperius Curse or from the blood loss remained uncertain.   
  
"Thank you for your contribution," Virgil felt the corners of his mouth twitch upward against his will. He then said something in a language he did not recognize.  
  
Serbian? It had to be Serbian. That was how Era received her note so easily, without detection. It was how Virgil received his note as well. It also explained why Virgil heard no incantation before the spell that incapacitated him in the Forbidden Forest - because it was no spell. It was the wizard seizing control over him.  
  
_"You are most welcome, great great grandfather."_  Astrit responded, in English, and Virgil understood why Astrit was needed. Astrit was the wizard's flesh and blood.  _Family._

After the blood was added, the potion turned an orange-ish color. Virgil felt his heartbeat quicken, presumably out of excitement. His hand reached for his neck, sliding the necklace that rested there over his head and dangling it over the potion.  
  
_"NOW!"_  He heard Logan scream, and felt himself turn in surprise. And at that moment, he felt a force against his hand, smacking the necklace out of his grasp.


	40. Chapter 40

The impact threw Virgil off balance, and he went tumbling to the ground. He heard the telltale 'ting' of something else hitting the ground as well.  
  
The necklace.  
  
Astrit reached for it.  
  
_"DON'T TOUCH IT!"_  Logan bellowed, his voice cracking from the sheer force. Astrit immediately retrieved his hand. His eyes met Virgil's and he immediately drew back.  
  
"What..." Virgil's hand flew to his mouth. The word actually came out. When he went to cover his mouth in surprise, his hand  _actually did what he wanted it to do_.   
  
Despite the fall, his wand was still in his hand. Despite the ringing in his ears, Virgil remembered the position that Era and Logan were in. Virgil immediately turned and pointed his wand in the direction of the Ravenclaw and the Gryffindor. "Finite Incantatum!" The ropes binding the two fell off.   
  
There was a moment of stunned silence.   
  
Then, Era went running for Astrit, pulling him into her arms and hugging him like she would never let him go again. Logan, too, went running, though he ran directly for Virgil. Before Virgil could even register what was happening, Logan's arms were around him and his lips were against Virgil's.  
  
Virgil pulled away in surprise. "I...uh. Wasn't, uh..."  
  
Logan frowned.  _"Oh...I apologize. I must have miscalculated. I thought...see, Venus is the goddess of love and..."_  
  
Virgil started to laugh. "Logan, I can't believe I'm about to say this to  _anyone_  else, and I feel like a hypocrit for saying it, but... _chill_. You didn't miscalculate." Virgil took a step forward, slowly bringing his lips to meet Logan's.  
  
Virgil would have been content to stay like that for the rest of the day. The universe, of course, had other plans.  
  
_"I don't feel so good,"_  Astrit mumbled, and Virgil could not help but notice how quiet the boy's voice was. His eyes trailed down to the wound on Astrit's arm. The  _still bleeding_  wound.  
  
_"You are experiencing heavy blood loss. We need to get you back to the castle to have you patched up in the Hospital Wing. Patton, Roman, and possibly Paige as well,"_  Logan noted.  
  
"How are we going to get them up there? There are more of us injured than not at this point!" Virgil heard his heart pounding in his ears. He felt dizzy. "What do we do with the necklace?"   
  
Logan seemed to struggle with himself for the moment.  _"Leave it."_  
  
"But it's dangerous! What if someone else..."  
  
_"We don't have time! Astrit needs dittany to stem the bleeding, or else we might lose him!"_  
  
Virgil stared down at the necklace on the ground, the  _cursed_  object that put them into this predicament. They'd gotten lucky. If someone else happened upon the necklace, they may not be so lucky next time.  
  
_"We can tell them about the necklace when we get back to the castle. We can tell them everything,"_  Era murmured. Astrit was practically draped against her, looking unnaturally pale.   
  
Virgil went to the other side of Era and Astrit, offering up his assistance. Era and Virgil were able to move Astrit faster than either of them would be able to alone, and Logan...well, he was able to approach a feebly stirring Paige.  
  
_"What...?"_  The Hufflepuff took in the appearance of the other four, easily deducing that she'd miss something. With help from Logan, she rose to her feet. Logan began to fill her in on the recent happenings while Virgil and Era continued to help Astrit. The boy looked as if he was barely clinging to consciousness now, but that left them all the more determined to seek out help.  
  
They reached the base of the staircase again, and a fresh wave of panic threatened to overtake Virgil. They'd made it to the stairs, but it was going to be a lot harder to get Astrit up the stairs. Not to mention Patton and Roman, who were both injured themselves...  
  
_"ASTRIT!"_  Virgil heard a young woman scream. Virgil's  _other_  sister was there.  _"I...sent a message up to the castle as soon as I saw what happened to these two. I'm sorry that I did not keep my promise, but..."_  
  
_"Pretty sure not getting into trouble is our last concern at this point,"_  Era mentioned, tilting her head toward Astrit as if to accentuate the point.  
  
"Yeah, we...we need help," Virgil confirmed.   
  
The small group made their way up the stairs slowly but surely.

Snježana insisted on relieving Virgil of his duties, wanting to assist Era with Astrit. Virgil understood, given their relationship as brother and sister. That left Virgil, Logan, and Paige to get Patton and Roman up the stairs. Roman was at least still conscious, which meant that he wasn't completely helpless. Patton, on the other hand, remained decidedly unconscious.  
  
It was decided that two people would carry Patton while one would assist Roman. Virgil and Paige opted to carry Patton, while Logan took over the duty of helping Roman up the stairs.  
  
Virgil, Paige, Snježana, and Era remained fairly quiet as they ascended the stairs, whispering to one another every once in a while to make sure that they were moving in tandem and did not harm the person that they were carrying.   
  
Roman and Logan were an entirely different story. It was determined through a quick test that Roman could at least bear weight on one of his legs, and thus Logan was doing his best to hold Roman up while Roman attempted to balance on his other leg.  
  
_"I do not need assistance! I am strong, I can do it myself!"_ Roman attempted to push Logan aside and climb up to the next step himself. He very nearly lost his balance. Were that to happen, he would have careened backward into Virgil, Paige, and Patton. Fortunately, he caught himself on the wall just in time.  
  
Logan was positively seething. "..are _you going to attempt something asinine like that again, or will you lay rest your obstinance and allow me to help you?"_  
  
_"..fine."_ Roman sighed.   
  
The rest of the journey, save for that near miss, was fairly uneventful (albeit long and arduous). As Virgil neared the top, he could hear voices at the surface. The help that Snježana called from the castle must have arrived. Virgil, Paige, and Patton were the last to reach the top, and Virgil and Paige carefully set Patton down where a couple of adults stood over him and began to assess him.  
  
Virgil smiled. They made it. All was well.  
  
A wave of dizziness crashed over him and dragged him under. Yet after everything they'd been through, the darkness was almost refreshing.


	41. Chapter 41

Virgil felt content to lay where he was for a few more minutes. It was soft and fluffy and warm and...  
  
Undeniably  _not_  the cool, hard ground of the Forbidden Forest.

Virgil's eyelids felt heavy, but he forced his eyes open because he had a sudden need to know where he was, whether his body cooperated with him or not.  
  
He lay in a bed in a bright room. Logan was near the foot of the bed, his head resting on his arms.  _Sleeping,_  Virgil realized, and he chuckled. Logan started at the sudden noise, blinking the sleep out of his eyes and then peering upward at Virgil.  
  
"We have  _got_  to stop meeting like this," Virgil teased. Three times he wound up in the Hospital Wing, and three times he found Logan waiting at the foot of his bed.   
  
_"Yes, well, I would prefer that you avoid the Hospital Wing for the rest of the year as well. This is really getting rather ridiculous,"_  Logan sat up, reaching up to adjust his tie. His tone was admonishing, but the slight hint of a grin gave away that Logan, too, was joking.  
  
Well, mostly. He had a feeling that Logan was  _pretty_  sincere in his wishes that Virgil pay no more personal visits to a bed in the Hospital Wing. Not that he could blame the Ravenclaw. He'd feel the same way if it was  _Logan_  that kept landing himself in the Hospital Wing.  
  
Virgil did a quick scan of the rest of the room, surprised to see that many of the other beds were filled. He'd never seen the Hospital Wing so filled on his prior visits, and he realized with a jolt that the majority of the occupants of the other beds were his  _friends_.  
  
Why was  _he_  even in a bed? Patton, Roman, and Astit were in worse shape than he was. Virgil pushed up against the bed into a seated position, Logan immediately leaning forward with his arms outstretched.  
  
"Logan, relax. I'm fine," Virgil raised an eyebrow.  
  
_"A bizarre statement to make when you are currently confined within a hospital bed..."_  Logan pointed out.  
  
"About that...why  _am_  I here, anyway? I wasn't hurt. How are Patton, Roman, and Astrit?" It didn't make any sense. He should be in a chair like Logan.  
  
_"Patton obtained a head injury as well as a broken arm, but he is otherwise fine. I know the head injury makes it sound severe,"_  Logan correctly interpreted Virgil's wide eyes and opening mouth as a protest, and cut him off before he could get any further,  _"but he has been thoroughly examined. He regained consciousness an hour or so ago. There appears to be no lasting damage, though they are keeping a close eye on him to be certain. He is resting now. As for the others..."_  
  
Logan's eyes scanned the room.  _"Roman is fine. He had one shattered leg that they are working to repair, as well as a sprain in the other leg. Other than a few cuts and bruises on top of that? He, too, shall make a full recovery."_  
  
Virgil swallowed, unsure whether Logan was leaving Astrit for last for a  _reason_ , or if he was overthinking things like usual.  
  
_"Astrit,"_  Logan continued,  _"is still unconscious. He experienced much blood loss, though they are working to rectify this. It looks as though he is going to pull through, though there are still many unknown variables."_  
  
Unknown variables. Virgil's absolute  _favorite_.  
  
"I..." Virgil closed his eyes the moment he heard his voice waver. He immediately felt Logan's hand on top of his.  
  
_"I know what you're going to say, Virge. You're going to blame yourself. That is an unfortunate habit of yours, this self deprecation..."_  
  
"Logan, I literally dragged the dagger across his arm and held it over the potion..."  
  
Logan looked taken aback.  _"Apologies, I was unaware that you were...well, aware of what was happening while you were under the influence of the necklace."_  
  
"Every last bit of it. I'm sorry for everything I did to you, Lo," Virgil assured Logan, though he would completely understand if Logan didn't want anything to do with him anymore.  
  
_"You didn't do anything,"_  Logan informed him.   
  
Virgil snorted. "I clearly did. Just ask Era when she shows up, she saw what happened too..."  
  
_"And she would corroborate my claim. You did not do anything. You were not in control of your own functions. If anyone is to blame, it is Astrit for so quickly going along with everything that you were saying. It was painful to watch."_  
  
Virgil looked at Logan, outraged. "But Astrit was under the Imperius Curse! He had no control over what he was doing! We don't even know if he was aware of what was happening!"  
  
_"Exactly,"_  Logan responded, folding his arms across his chest.  _"You see how absurd it is to blame Astrit for something he had no control over, so why do you continue to blame yourself?"_  
  
"It...it's different..." Virgil protested, though without as much force this time.

 _"Era, Paige, and Snježana have all made frequent visits to the hospital wing,"_  Logan remarked, deftly changing the subject. Virgil narrowed his eyes slightly, seeing what Logan was doing..but opting to go along with it as Logan's eyes met his own. Logan wasn't going to budge on this, he could already tell.  
  
"How long have we been here?" Virgil asked, honestly curious.  
  
_"We entered the forest last night. You and the others have been in the Hospital Wing for about fifteen hours."_  
  
"Fifteen hours?!" Virgil nearly yelped in surprise. "Why was I out for fifteen hours?!"  
  
_"You have been through a lot, Virgil. We all have. Era was nearly admitted to a bed as well. The only reason she was not was that she protested. Loudly, I might add. I can only presume the circumstances would have been similar for yourself were you not unconscious at the time."_  
  
"Why was I unconscious, though? I wasn't even injured," Virgil observed.  
  
Logan shook his head.  _"No, not physically at least, but the ordeal that you went through..that we _all_  went through, was very taxing mentally."_  
  
Virgil picked at the sheets on his bed, determined not to look Logan in the eyes. "So I passed out because I couldn't handle it. Is that what you're getting at?"   
  
_"What? No!"_  Logan sighed exasperatedly.  _"Era had no physical injuries either, yet she was almost admitted for the stress that she was under because of everything that happened with her brother."_  
  
"Well yeah, Era's dealt with so much with her brother, you can't really blame her for that..."  
  
_"Which once again brings us full circle."_  Virgil shot a bewildered glance at Logan.  _"You, like Era, have been under an inordinate amount of stress. You recognize that Era's feelings are valid, yet you struggle to do so for yourself."_  
  
"Stop doing that!" Virgil grumbled.   
  
The corners of Logan's mouth turned upward, making it even worse.  _"Stop doing what?"_  
  
"Stop...twisting everything around like that!" Virgil continued, though it was hard to keep fighting when he still felt very much exhausted, and when Logan somehow managed to look so  _endearing_ when he was proud of himself like this.  
  
_"Virgil Thompson, you have a visitor,"_  one of the healers called out to him. Virgil would have been grateful for the distraction had he not caught on to something in particular.   
  
He, Virgil, had a visitor. Not the others, just him. Who would be in the Hospital Wing just to visit him? Virgil's gaze shot toward the door at once, and in walked his mother.


	42. Chapter 42

Virgil's heart hammered within his chest as Renilda Thompson slowly approached her son's bed. "Hi mom," he mumbled, glancing immediately behind her at the door. No sign of Linus Thompson yet, but Virgil knew that if his mother was here, his father wouldn't be far behind. "Where's dad?"  
  
Something unreadable came across Renilda's face.  _"He could not make it. He was paying a visit to your brother, discussing his defenses for the upcoming trial."_  Her tone sounded oddly hollow to Virgil.  _"In any case, that does not matter. I'm so happy to see that you are awake! I heard about what happened and I came here as soon as I could."_  
  
Virgil winced. "How...uh...how well known is it, what happened in the Forbidden Forest?"  
  
Logan's voice cut through the conversation between mother and son.  _"The wizarding world is aware that an incident occurred within the Forbidden Forest involving several students and a dark wizard, but they are mostly unaware of the full details. Likewise, our fellow students know that we were involved, but they do not know the full scope of what we experienced - nor do they need to, if we do not wish them to."_  
  
That was oddly comforting, and gave them a semblance of control in a situation that seemed remarkably  _out_  of their control.  
  
Renilda regarded Logan with a confused expression, her eyes tracing the path down Virgil's arm toward his hand, where his hand remained in Logan's. Virgil's eyes widened and he immediately retrieved his hand from Logan's.  
  
 _"And who is this, Virgil?"_  His mother questioned him.   
  
"He's, uh..." Why was it always so hard to find words at times like these?  
  
 _"His boyfriend, Logan,"_  Logan responded, seizing Virgil's hand in his once more. He looked almost as if he was ready to  _fight_  Virgil's mother if it came down to it, and Virgil was so surprised that he was at a temporarily loss for words.  
  
Renilda, on the other hand, smiled.  _"Oh? I approve, Virgil. Especially as he is a Ravenclaw. I was one myself, you know."_  She was looking at Logan as she said this, but she nevertheless had a warm smile on her face.   
  
Virgil was absolutely  _stunned_. "You..you don't care that he's..."  
  
Renilda chuckled.  _"That he's a him, or that he's a Ravenclaw?"_  She turned her attention back to her son.  _"I don't care either way. You seem to care about him and he seems to care about you, and that's the most important part, is it not?"_  
  
Yes, but he hadn't expected his  _parents_  to see it like that.  
  
...correction, not his parents. His  _parent_. His father couldn't even be bothered to take time away from Lionel to visit his own son in the Hospital Wing. Virgil could feel a lump in his throat, though he struggled to swallow it back. His father always did favor Lionel. He knew this. He'd accepted it.  
  
So why did it still  _hurt_?  
  
 _"I apologize Mrs. Thompson, Virgil, I did not realize..."_  
  
 _"Ms. Nyx,"_  Renilda corrected Logan.  
  
Virgil arched an eyebrow. "Ms. Nyx? You haven't gone by Ms. Nyx since your twenties," he remarked before he could stop himself. Nyx was his mother's  _maiden name_. Why did she want to be addressed by her maiden name now? Was she embarrassed over what happened with De-Lionel?  
  
 _"Precisely. I decided that it was time for another change. Virgil, I should have told you sooner, but we were still working on finalizing the matter, and with everything that has happened with your brother and not wanting to disrupt your studies it has been difficult to find the right time..."_    
  
Virgil had done enough stalling in his day to recognize what his mother was trying to do. "Spit it out, mom," he instructed her.  
  
 _"Is that any way to talk to your mother?"_  Though she might have sounded stern, there was a vague hint of a smile across her face, indicating that she was just teasing him.  _"Your father and I...we are separated, and we are working toward making that separation official."_  
  
Virgil's eyes flew open wide.   
  
His parents were getting a divorce. Logan reached out to squeeze his hand, presumably in an attempt to comfort him. Logan clearly was not prepared for the laughter that tumbled forth from Virgil's lips, and retrieved his hand at once, looking apprehensive.  _"Are you alright, Virgil?"_  
  
Virgil immediately bit down on his lip to keep himself from laughing further, especially upon seeing the look of abject confusion on his mother's face. "I...I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing, I just..."  
  
Renilda sighed.  _"Your relationship with your father was always strained. I should have seen it sooner. There is a lot I should have seen sooner,"_  she frowned, her gaze focused toward the floor.  _"Your father refuses to entertain any other possibility than defense of your brother and his actions."_  
  
"Because he believes De..Lionel is innocent?" Virgil sighed, leaning back a bit.  
  
Renilda shook her head.  _"No. That's what he proclaims, but I...I know better. I know not whether Lionel is actually guilty of the crimes that he is accused of or not, but...your father...I believe that he does not even care about that. Your father would support Lionel even if he was guilty, and...I cannot stand for that."_    
  
Virgil could tell that his mother was struggling with herself. She seemed to suspect the truth, but could not fully bring herself to admit it. That Lionel was indeed guilty, and that his father not only supported Lionel but supported his actions, the  _hate crimes_  that he was accused of (for that was what they were, targeting anyone who was not of pure blood).  
  
And despite Virgil's own bias concerning the situation, he realized that for the first time he could see where his mother was coming from. Virgil always  _knew_ , because he was subject to it firsthand. The favoritism, the disapproving glances, the snide comments. Renilda, on the other hand, struggled to maintain a facade of a happy family. She had a loving husband with two sons who loved each other very much.  
  
One could only pretend that a broken vase was unbroken for so long, however. Eventually the small crack in the vase turned into a long fissure, and the vase could no longer hold itself together. Linus made clear where he stood in regard to Lionel, that he would stand by his son whether he was guilty or not. Lines were drawn, and Renilda..Renilda had chosen her path as well.  
  
She'd chosen  _him_.   
  
 _"Virgil, are you alright?"_  Logan's voice interrupted him from his reverie, and he was aware for the first time of the sensation of tears rolling down his cheeks. He was  _crying_. How embarrassing was that?  
  
His mother immediately swooped in and pulled him into a hug. The dam immediately burst, and Virgil found himself sobbing within his mother's arms. He buried his face out of embarrassment, but he was past the stage where he could control himself. They stayed like that for several moments, Virgil in his mother's arms as Renilda occasionally ran a hand through her youngest son's hair, reassuring him that it would all be okay.


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So..yeah. This is the end of this fanfic, three months and a ridiculous number of chapters later. XD For those of you who have stuck by me this entire time, I am incredibly grateful. Special thanks to KokoScripsit (@kokosurvives on tumblr), one of my best non-binary pals who has served as a beta reader of sorts and has allowed me to include a few of their characters within this story. Special thanks to all of you leaving comments and kudos as well...you kept me going at times where I wondered if I would be able to continue with this story. Thank you for giving me something to write for, I will never be able to express my appreciation enough. With that being said, please stay tuned until the end of this chapter. =)

It was hard to believe after everything that happened, but things began to return back to normal.   
  
A  _new_  normal, but normal nevertheless.  
  
Virgil's mother returned to her new dwelling, a two bedroom flat in Diagon Alley. Virgil would return there instead of the manor that he'd lived in for his entire life, and though some might be displeased about the so-called 'downgrade' in quality, Virgil considered it a major  _upgrade_. She'd taken a few pictures of the place and gave them to Virgil before she left so that he would not be completely blindsided. As excited as he was for  _some_  aspects of the change, it was still change nevertheless - and Renilda knew full well her son's attitude toward change. Having an idea of what the flat looked like ahead of time would help to ease that for him.  
  
He was the first of the quartet admitted to the Hospital Wing to be released, followed by Roman shortly after. Patton took a while longer, and Astrit? He remained in the Hospital Wing for the longest. As far as acute wounds were concerned, Patton fared the worst.  
  
But Astrit didn't just have the deep cut on his arm to recover from. He'd been given barely enough food to survive during the time that he was held captive. He'd been placed under the Imperius Curse. He had a  _lot_  to heal from, both physically and mentally - but he  _was_  healing, and that was the important part. Era was the happiest he'd seen her in a long time, and it visibly showed. It was like an actual weight was lifted off of her shoulders. Her steps were lighter, her shoulders were more rounded, and she stood taller.  
  
OWLs came and went. Other than one particular night when Virgil had to help  _Logan_  through a panic attack in the middle of studying (a role reversal that Virgil wasn't particularly eager to repeat, but would if he had to), the tests passed with little fanfare. Some were more difficult than others. Virgil did not feel particularly good about  _any_  of them, but he did not feel terrible either - and he supposed that was a plus, all things considered.  
  
He read through the Daily Prophet articles concerning his brother voraciously. He didn't particularly care  _what_  happened to Deceit. He read the articles out of a sense of obligation. He didn't want to miss anything in the event that someone else at Hogwarts read something before he did and started needling him about it.  
  
Virgil found himself grateful that no one other than those present for the events that occurred in that underground cavern were aware of the full extent of what happened. Oh, he still received plenty of unwanted attention from those who wanted the details, but he quickly adapted. He found the least busy routes to class and took those instead, minimizing the chances that he would be ambushed by an eager passerby.  
  
The day came when Astrit was ready to leave the Hospital Wing. It was near the end of the school year, and all of them were present. Virgil very nearly stayed back to pack. Shane had since returned, and didn't hold what happened against Virgil at all. In fact, he seemed as eager to hear about the trouble that befell Deceit as Virgil was, and told Virgil that he did not need to apologize for something that his asshole of a  _brother_  did.  
  
Virgil could accept that. What he had a harder time accepting, however, was the idea that Astrit would  _ever_  want to see his face again. He'd kept away from the Hospital Wing after Astrit regained consciousness on purpose. He'd used the excuse of not wanting to overwhelm the Gryffindor boy at first. The further Astrit progressed in his recovery, the more difficult it was to use an excuse like that...so he improvised.   
  
He didn't expect someone to call his bluff this time around. Virgil was almost to the Slytherin Common Room when he heard a familiar voice behind him.  _"Virgil, Astrit is being released from the Hospital Wing. Why are you not going?"_  
  
Virgil turned to face Logan. "I still need to pack up my things. The train leaves tomorrow, you know."  
  
Logan arched a brow.  _"I know you, Virgil, You've been mostly packed for the past week, in case something comes up that will prevent you from packing in time. You fear any complication that may arise that will lead to your missing the train, and that is one of the major variables that could lead to you doing so."_  
  
Virgil stared at Logan. "...seriously? I mean, you're not wrong, but..seriously? How could you figure something like that out?"  
  
Logan smirked.  _"I'm your boyfriend. That is one of my functions."_  
  
Virgil rolled his eyes, managing a smile that did not quite meet his eyes. Logan, of course, seized upon this observation immediately.  _"You are avoiding Astrit."_  
  
"Thank you, Captain Obvious."  
  
_"You are most welcome, even if I do detect sarcasm in that particular comment of yours. You will thank me authentically later on, after I make my arguments as to why you should see Astrit."_  
  
Virgil tugged on the sleeves of his robes. "What arguments? It's not like Astrit wants to see me."  
  
_"Nonsense,"_  Logan protested.  _"Why would Astrit not wish to see you?"_  
  
Virgil stared at Logan as if he had two heads. Did Logan really not see it, or did he just want Virgil to say it himself? Fine, Virgil could play at that game. "Duh, the whole time he was held captive he had to stare at my face. Why would he want to see it again?  _I_  wouldn't want to see me again," the Slytherin mumbled.  
  
_"Virgil, that was not you..."_  
  
"He looked like me, though."  
  
Logan sighed, adjusting his glasses and looking at Virgil as if he were a professor appraising a student for the first time.  _"Yes, he did look like you, and for good reason. That being said, Astrit did say something a few weeks ago that lead me to believe that he would not hold any of this against you."_  
  
"...what?" What was Logan getting at?  
  
_"When you met him in the Forbidden Forest, he informed you that you would not be able to help him if he returned. As we lacked integral pieces of information at that point, we reached an incomplete conclusion. We believed that he simply meant that you would be similarly incapacitated if you were present when Astrit's captor returned. Instead, I believe he was referring to the fact that..."_  
  
"That the guy who captured him was using  _me_  as his little puppet. Yeah, Logan. I get that. I'm not sure how that's supposed to help," Virgil did feel a bit bad for talking to his boyfriend like this, but Logan needed to understand where Virgil was coming from.  
  
_"Allow me to finish, Virgil. He saw the difference."_  
  
"The difference?" Virgil cast Logan a skeptical glance.   
  
_"Between you and the dark wizard controlling you through the cursed necklace. As you have addressed multiple times already within the course of this conversation, you and the wizard looked exactly alike. Yet Astrit was still able to ascertain a difference between the two of you. He recognized you when you were yourself, and not his captor. I have confidence that he will be able to do the same now as well. With that being said...I am willing to acknowledge that you have made several good points of your own. If Astrit does show increased distress at your presence, you may leave and I will not protest."_  
  
Virgil did not have a retort for that. Not only did Logan argue his own point expertly, but he also acknowledged, in a very rare twist, that there a chance, ever so slight, that he could be wrong in his observations.  
  
In the end, Virgil did travel to the Hospital Wing. It went well enough. Virgil and Astrit maintained cordial enough conversation, though there was a hint of something beneath the surface there - Something that they lacked the proper amount of time to really delve into with what little time they had.  
  
The following day came lightning fast, after all. They were piling into a compartment on the train and discussing their plans for summer. They all made plans to keep in touch via owl, and Virgil departed the Hogwarts Train feeling as though he might not entirely dread the start of the next school year - or going home, even. It may not be a happy ending, but Virgil knew that his life was no fairytale. Besides, this was no ending for Virgil. It was a new beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there you have it! The end of THIS story..and yes, I put emphasis on 'this' for a reason. Because..I already have plans in place for a sequel! So stay tuned, this is not the last you are going to see of the characters in this universe. <3 Once again, thank you everyone! (I feel like I can't say this enough, lol)


	44. Chapter 44

This was requested by someone in the comments on the last chapter, so here it is - A link to the sequel, the first chapter of which has been posted!

[Click Here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15748470/chapters/36622068)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Wizarding World of Virgil Storm](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16717431) by [Ericthometer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ericthometer/pseuds/Ericthometer)




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